Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with an 84-80 win over Saint John's University (Minn.) Tuesday night at Mitchell Hall. It was the season opener for both teams who are both ranked on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll. The Eagles are ranked 15th while the Johnnies are 25th in the preseason polls.
 

Craig Steele got the Eagles off to a fast start as he hit his first three three-pointers of the game to spark an early 11-0 run and extend their lead to 13-2. The Johnnies scored seven of the next nine points to cut their deficit to 15-9 with 11:47 on the clock After St. John's cut the UWL lead to 22-16, the Eagles went on a 13-4 run to take a 35-20 (4:20) lead on a three-pointer by Jake Gross.Gross had two three-pointers to spark the run for the Eagles. A Kooper Vaughn three-pointer would pull the Johnnies to with in eight (38-27) but that would be as close as they would get in the first half as UWL took its largest lead of the half at 43-27 (1:41) and led at halftime 45-33.

In the first half, the Eagles shot 18-for-32 (56.25%) from the floor including 7-for-12 (58.33%) from the three point line. St John;s finished the opening period shooting 10-for-24 (41.67%) from the floor and 2-for-7 (28.7%) from behind the three-point line. 

A Carson Schoeller three-pointer pulled St. John's to within 47-37 before UWL pushed its lead to 53-39 with 15:31 left in the game. A Jake Gross jumper gave the Eagles a 57-43 lead before St. John's went on an 18-3 run to take its first lead of the game at 61-60 with 7:49 remaining. The Johnnies took a 68-67 lead with 5:46 left on the clock but that would be their last lead of the game. UWL used an 11-2 run to regain control of the game and take a 78-70 lead with 1:08 to play. Back-to-back three-pointers by Steele and Torin Hannah sparked the run for the Eagles. St. John's pulled to with-in 82-80 on three straight free throws by Vaughn but Henry Noone hit two free throws to seal the win for the Eagles. 

UWL finished with four players in double figures led by Ethan Anderson who had 20 points while Westra added 17, Steele 14 and Hannah 12. Anderson also finished with six assists. Westra had a team high eight rebounds while Hannah finished with seven. As a team, the Eagles finished 30-for-56 (52.6%) from the floor and 8-for-15 (53.3%) from the three-point line. UWL was 16-for-23 (69.6%) from the free throw line and finished with a slight 25-23 edge in rebounds. 

St. John's finished 26-for-56 (46.4%) from the floor and 8-for-19 (42.9%) from the three-point line. The Johnnies were also 20-23 (87%) from the free throw line. Ryan Thissen led St. John's with a game high 23 points while Vaughn chipped in 19 and Schoeller added 13 points. 

UWL will return to action on Friday night when they travel to Marietta, Ohio to play in the Marietta Shrine Tournament. The Eagles open the two-day tournament playing host Marietta (Ohio) at 7 p.m.