Box Score Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 64-56 victory at UW-Eau Claire Friday night in the McPhee Physical Education Center.  The Eagles improve to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blugolds drop to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference. 

UWL earned a season-opening 62-43 home victory over UW-Eau Claire on February 3.  UWL has won four straight meetings with UW-Eau Claire for the first time since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
 

All eight teams in the WIAC are divided into two divisions this year with UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater in the East and UW-Eau Claire, UWL, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout in the West.  Each team is scheduled to play two games against each divisional opponent, as well as two games against one cross-over opponent, for a total of eight games.  All eight teams will qualify for the WIAC Championship beginning March 1.  The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships were canceled on February 3.  

UW-Eau Claire raced out to a 9-3 lead on Friday night before UWL scored six straight points on back-to-back three-pointers from Ethan Anderson and Craig Steele. The game was tied, 15-15 with 5:07 left after the Blugolds' Alex Voigt converted a layup.  Henry Noone's three-pointer for UWL later tied the contest at 18-18 with 4:06 remaining, but UW-Eau Claire used a 7-0 run to lead 25-18.  The Blugolds led, 28-23, at halftime.

UWL trailed 31-25 with 19:26 remaining on Cam Kuepers' three-point field goal for UW-Eau Claire, but the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to lead 35-31 on a Will Fuhrmann three-pointer with 15:28 left in the game. UW-Eau Claire took a 43-37 advantage on a Kuepers' three with 12:14 remaining before UWL used a 10-4 run to tie it at 47-47 with 9:02 left on another Noone three-point basket. 

Cade Hall's layup gave UW-Eau Claire a 53-52 lead with 5:31 remaining, but UWL scored nine straight points to lead, 61-53 with 2:08 left after a pair of Ethan Anderson free throws. The Blugolds could get no closer than six points the rest of the game, missing five of their last six shots from the field.  The Eagles went eight-of-11 at the free throw line in the final 4:29.
 
UWL shot 42.9 % from the field, including 47.1% (eight-of-17) from three-point range, and 56.0% (14-of-25) at the free throw line.  Wyatt Cook led the Eagles with 13 points and six rebounds while Seth Anderson finished with 11 points and two rebounds. Noone and Ethan Anderson each finished with 10 points. 

Steele finished with three points in eight minutes off the bench. "I am so proud of Craig Steele," said UWL head coach Kent Dernbach.  "Coming off a torn ACL, rehabbing through a pandemic with a lack of resources, it's just a story of grit, toughness and determination. We don't win tonight without his play."

UW-Eau Claire shot 45.7% from the field, including 37.5 % (six-of-16) from three-point range, and 57.1% (eight-of-14) at the line.  Kuepers led the Blugolds with 14 points while Carter Brooks led with nine rebounds. 

UWL returns to action Wednesday, February 10 at UW-River Falls at 7 p.m.