Box Score Marietta, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin- La Crosse men's basketball team defeated their second nationally ranked opponent of the week as they beat Marietta University (Ohio) 83-75 in the first game of the Marietta Shrine Tournament. The Eagles improve to 2-0 while the Pioneers fall to 0-1. UWL is ranked 15th on the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 poll whle Marietta is ranked 17th.
Austin Westra leads Eagles with 19 points and 5 rebounds.
The Eagles opened the game scoring seven of the first nine points to take an early 7-2 lead.
Austin Westra scored on the opening possession and then converted a three-point play to score five quick points for the Eagles. The Pionneers responded with an 11-2 run to take a 13-9 lead 15:41 left in the opening half. After the Pioneers took a 22-17 lead, the Eagles scored 11 of the next 14 points to take a 28-25 lead with 8:33 left.
Henry Noone hit back-to-back three pointers to help the Eagles regain the lead.
Jake Gross and
Craig Steele then hit back-to-back three-pointers to help the Eagles take its largest lead of the first half at 34-27. The Pioneers would cut their first half deficit to 40-39 on a jumper by Xavier Lovenson with 4:03 remaining in the first half. Another three-pointer by Noone gave the Eagles a 45-40 lead before the Piorneers hit one of two free throws (1:19) and UWL led 45-41 at intermission.
A layup by Westra and
Anthony Espensen opened the scoring in the second half for the Eagles as they took a 49-41 lead 1:11 into the second half. Trailing 49-45, the Pioneers went on a 10-2 run to take a 55-51 lead with 14:21 remaining in the game. The Pioneers would lead 59-54 before the Eagles scored five straight to tie the game including a three-point play by
Torin Hannah with 12:30 on the clock. A Cooper Parrott three-pointer followed by a dunk from Sahmi Willoughby would give the Pioneers the lead back at 64-59. Marietta then extended their lead to 67-61 before the Eagles scored seven unanswered to take a 68-67 lead with 9:01 left. An
Ethan Anderson lay-up tied the game at 72-72 and the Eagles outscored the Pioneers 11-3 over the final 3:28 to pull away. Noone's fifth three-pointer of the game helped spark the final run for the Eagles.
As a team, the Eagles finished 33-for-70 (47.1%) from the floor and 7-for-28 (25.0%) from the three-point line. UWL was also 10-for-13 (76.9%) from the free throw line. Individually, the Eagles had three players in double figures including Westra with a team high 19 points while Noone and Anderson each had 15 points. All 15 points for Noone came from behind the three-point line as he finished 5-for-9. Anderson also grabbed a team high nine rebounds and dished out five assists.
Marietta was 30-for-73 (41.1%) from the floor including 9-for-26 (34.6%) from three-point range. The Pioneers finished 6-for-12 from the free throw line and had a slight 44-42 advantage on the boards. Willoughby led the Pioneers with 14 points while Jac Alexander added 13 points.
UWL will now play Guilford College in the championship game of the Marietta Shrine Tournament on Saturday night at 7:00 pm (EST). Guilford defeated La Roche University 83-75 in the other semfinal game.
