Box Score River Falls, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 67-66 at UW-River Falls Wednesday night in Karges Center. The Eagles, ranked 14th on D3hoops.com, drop to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Falcons improve to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC.
The game was tied five times in the first half, including 17-17 with 9:09 remaining. UWL's
Seth Anderson and
Ethan Anderson hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Eagles a 23-17 advantage. UW-River Falls later cut the lead to 27-26 on a Jake Reeck jumper, but UWL scored seven consecutive points for a 34-26 lead with :55 left after a
Mandela Deang jumper. The Eagles led, 34-28, at halftime.
UWL opened the second half on a 6-2 run to take its largest lead of the game at 40-30 with 17:29 left.
Seth Anderson's jumper with 13:58 remaining gave the Eagles a 45-37 lead, but the Falcons used a 9-1 run to force a 46-46 tie with 9:33 remaining on Jack Stensgard three-point basket.
Wyatt Cook's free throw with 9:08 left gave UWL a 47-46 lead, but UW-River Falls went on a 13-4 run to take a 59-51 advantage with 5:30 left.
The Eagles responded with a 10-2 run of their own to force a 61-61 tie with 3:18 left.
Craig Steele's three-point field goal with 3:18 remaining tied the game. UW-River Falls' Austin Werdin's jumper with 1:36 left gave the Falcons a 63-61 lead before Cook's three-point field goal with 1:19 remaining provided a 64-63 lead for the Eagles. Alex Ohde's two free throws with :57 left gave UW-River Falls a one-point lead before Cook made a pair of free throws for a 66-65 UWL lead. Werdin's layup with :29 left provided the winning margin as Cook's jumper at the buzzer was short.
UWL shot 37.7% from the field, including 42.9% (12-of-28) from three-point range, and 57.1% (eight-of-14) at the free throw line. Cook led the Eagles with 22 points and eight rebounds. He finished five-of-eight from three-point range.
Seth Anderson totaled 12 points and three rebounds while
Ethan Anderson had 11 points and five rebounds.
UW-River Falls shot 43.1% from the field, including 37.5% (nine-of-24) from three-point range, and 88.9% (eight-of-nine) at the line. Ohde and Noah Hanson led four players in double figures with 16 points for the Falcons. Ohde finished with a game-high 14 rebounds. Werdin finished with 14 points and with 10.
The teams will face each other Friday, February 12 at UWL at 7 p.m.
