Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 3-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 58-39 victory at UW-Eau Claire Wednesday night in Zorn Arena. The Eagles improve to 10-4 overall with their third straight win overall. UW-Eau Claire drops to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC. 

UWL, 3-0 in the WIAC for the first time since 2013-14, never trailed in Wednesday's win. The Eagles led 13-6 with 13:31 left in the first half on a Taulvish McCray three-pointer. UW-Eau Claire cut the deficit to 19-17 with 6:57 remaining on a Cole Rabedeaux jumper, but UWL went on a 10-2 run to lead 29-19 on Ethan Anderson's jumper with 3:58 left. The Blugolds scored the last five points of the half to cut the lead to 29-24. 

The Eagles led 35-30 with 15:14 remaining in the game when they used a 15-3 run to take a 50-33 advantage with 9:33 left after a Ben Meinholz layup. UW-Eau Claire could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the game. The Blugolds shot 21.7% (five-of-23) in the second half.

UWL shot 40.8% from the field, including 31.6% (six-of-19) from three-point range, and 85.7% (12-of-14) at the free throw line. Meinholz led the Eagles with 21 points, nine rebounds and four steals. He tied for the team lead with two assists. McCray added 12 points. 

UW-Eau Claire shot 30.0% from the field, including 20.0% (four-of-20) from three-point range, and 71.4% (five-of-seven) at the line. Cam Kuepers led the Blugolds with eight points while Rabedeaux and Sean Miller each finished with seven. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 12 hosting 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.