Fond du Lac, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 77-68 overtime victory at Marian University (Wis.) Tuesday night. The Sabres fall to 0-4 on the season.

It is UWL's first 4-0 start since 2017-18. The Eagles have not started the year with five consecutive wins since going 6-0 in 2012-13.

In the first meeting between the two teams since the 2007-08 season, the game was tied four times in the first half, including 13-13 with 10:00 remaining after UWL's Zion Turner hit a jumper. Marian (Wis.) cut the lead to 17-16 on Santino Phinisee's three-pointer with 7:50 left when UWL went on a 14-2 run to lead 31-18 with 1:44 remaining when Wyatt Cook scored on a layup. 

UWL led, 34-24, at halftime as Ethan Anderson finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Cook and Seth Anderson both had seven points in the first half. The Eagles shot 42.4% from the field and 55.6% (five-of-nine) from the line as seven different players scored. 

Marian (Wis.) shot 41.7% from the field in the first half and did not have a free throw attempt.  DeAndre Ross had six points for the Sabres.

Trailing 38-28 with 16:33 left in the game, Marian (Wis.) used a 12-2 run to force a 40-40 tie with 12:33 remaining on Scott Paulus' layup. Ethan Anderson's three-pointer, a pair of free throws from Cook and a Seth Anderson free throw gave UWL a 46-40 lead. The Eagles later led, 54-49 with 6:37 left on an Ethan Anderson dunk, but the Sabres scored eight of the next 11 points to tie the game at 57-57 with 4:18 remaining.

Marian (Wis.) took a 61-58 lead on an Hunter Schultz jumper, but Luke Norcia's three-pointer tied the game for UWL with 1:21 left. Ross gave the Sabres a 63-61 lead on a layup with 1:03 remaining, but Zac Haese's layup for the Eagles with :46 left tied the game. Ross missed the front end of a one-and-one with :12 remaining for Marian (Wis.) and Cook missed the potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer for UWL. 

The Eagles never trailed in the overtime with Norcia hitting a three-pointer with 4:04 left for a 66-63 advantage. Paulus hit a layup for Marian (Wis.) with 3:15 remaining to cut it to 66-65, but UWL used a 6-0 run to lead 72-65 and later scored the final five points of the game to earn the win. The Eagles were seven-of-nine (77.8%) at the free throw line in overtime.

UWL shot 44.1% from the field for the game, including 26.7% (four-of-15) from three-point range, and 63.6% (21-of-33) at the free throw line. Ethan Anderson led the Eagles with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Seth Anderson scored 17 points off the bench with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was six-of-seven from the field and five-of-seven at the line. Cook added 12 points, eight rebounds and team-high two blocks.

Marian (Wis.) shot 49.1% from the field, including 45.5% (10-of-22) from three-point range, and 50.0% (two-of-four) at the line. Logan Hamilton led the Sabres with 19 points while Ross had 12 points and a team-high eight assists and five rebounds. Paulus added 10 points. 

UWL returns to action Tuesday, November 26 hosting 23rd-ranked Augsburg University (Minn.) at 7 p.m. in its home opener.