La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 10th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, earned a season sweep of UW-Stevens Point with a 64-44 victory Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, now winners of eight straight games, improve to 15-2 overall and 6-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers drop to 3-10 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
UWL earned a 73-59 victory January 8 in Stevens Point. The Eagles have won seven straight meetings with the Pointers, their longest winning streak since capturing seven straight from 1974-77.
Craig Steele scored seven points off the bench.
The Eagles' 44 points allowed versus the Pointers are the fewest since UW-Stevens Point totaled 50 in 1989-90.
UWL raced out to a 12-2 lead Saturday on
Will Fuhrmann's three-point basket. UW-Stevens Point went on a 14-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 16-14 on a Cliff McCrary three-pointer with 11:46 remaining in the first half. The Eagles scored the next seven points for a 21-16 advantage after
Craig Steele connected on a three-point field goal with 9:14 left. UWL took a 28-21 halftime lead on
Wyatt Cook's layup with 1:43 remaining.
UW-Stevens Point cut the deficit to 40-39 with 11:03 left on a Brady Wagner layup, but UWL used a 9-0 run to take a 49-39 advantage on
Ethan Anderson's three-pointer with 7:31 remaining. Zach Mootz' layup for the Pointers made it 49-41, but UW-Stevens Point would get no closer the rest of the game. Anderson's jumper (5:58 left) and
Torin Hannah's layup (5:13) provided UWL with a 53-41 lead.
UWL shot 52.0% from the field, including 35.0% (seven-of-20) from three-point range, and 55.6% (five-of-nine) at the free throw line. Anderson led the Eagles with 18 points while Cook finished with 12.
Seth Anderson and Hannah each totaled eight. Cook had a game-high 14 rebounds in recording his fourth career double-double. The 14 rebounds are a career-high.
Henry Noone and Steele each had seven points.
UW-Stevens Point shot 30.9% from the field, including 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, and 44.4% (four-of-nine) at the line. Garrett Nelson and Wagner led the Pointers with nine points while Mootz totaled five rebounds overall.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 26 at UW-Platteville at 7 p.m.
