River Falls, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team dropped just its third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) game this season as they fell 60-58 at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Wednesday night at Don Page Arena. The Eagles fall to 15-7 overall and 8-3 in the WIAC while the Falcons improve to 10-12 overall and 3-8 in the conference. 

UWL earned a 66-65 victory over UW-River Falls on January 23 in Mitchell Hall.

After the Eagles cut the deficit to 60-58 with :23 remaining on two free throws by Ben Meinholz, the Falcons turned the ball over with :12 left.  UWL missed three shots in the final: 05 as UW-River Falls held on for the win.

After UWL took a 32-27 lead early in the second half, UW-River Falls went on a 14-4 run to take a 41-36 advantage with 14:07 remaining.  The Eagles responded with a run of their own as they outscored the Falcons, 14-3 to take their largest lead of the second half at 50-44 with 7:40 left. UW-River Falls eventually took the lead back at 51-50 with 5:41 left on a Jalen Greenlee layup. UWL took a 54-53 lead with 3:42 remaining on an Meinholz' layup, but Ross Ingersoll tied the game at 54-54 with 3:15 remaining after making one-of-two free throws. Brendon Manning's layup with 2:04 left gave UWL a two-point advantage at 56-54, but Matt Keller's three-pointer with 1:35 remaining provided UW-River Falls with a 57-56 lead. 

UWL turned the ball over and Julian Jackson's dunk gave UW-River Falls a 59-56 lead with :43 left. Jack Stensgard hit one-of-two free throws with :27 remaining gave the Falcons a 60-56 lead before Meinholz' two free throws with :23 left.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as the two teams played to a 10-10 tie with 10:07 remaining.  The Falcons would take their largest lead of the game at 18-10 with 5:18 left, but the Eagles used a 18-5 run to end the half for a 28-23 advantage.

UWL finished the game shooting 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the floor, including four-of-13 (30.8%) from three-point range, and six-of-10 (60.0%) at the line. Meinholz led the Eagles with 18 points while Manning added 13 points and seven rebounds. Meinholz finished with six assists and four steals. Zac Haese scored nine points off the bench.

UW-River Falls finished the game at 21-of-52 (40.4%) from the floor, including four-of-18 (22.2%) from three-point range, and 14-of-22 (63.6%) from the charity stripe.  The Falcons finished the game with a 42-28 advantage on the boards. The Falcons had three players in double figures led by Austin Heidecker with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson had 12 points and six rebounds while Keller finished with 10 points.

UWL will return home Saturday, February 9 hosting the Blugolds of UW-Eau Claire at 5 p.m.