Rock Island, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 73-70 win at Augustana College (Ill.) Wednesday night in Carver PE Center. The Eagles, ranked 12th on D3hoops.com, improve to 10-2 on the season while the Vikings drop to 3-9.

Augustana (Ill.) took a 4-3 lead on a Evan Ambrose jumper, but UWL went on a 8-0 run to lead 11-4. The Eagles would never trail the rest of the game. Mack Sebert's jumper gave UWL a 5-4 lead and Craig Steele hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it a seven-point game. The Vikings later cut the lead to 15-12 with 12:14 remaining in the first half, but Torin Hannah's three-point field goal with 11:57 left gave the Eagles a 18-12 advantage. 

Anthony Cooper's three-pointer with 4:50 remaining tied the game for Augustana (Ill.) at 28-28. The teams traded baskets for a 30-30 tie with 3:23 left. Jake Gross' three-point field goal with 3:03 remaining gave UWL a 33-30 lead and Tanner Resch made a pair of free throws with 2:33 left for a five-point lead. The Vikings cut the lead to 37-36 at halftime on an Ambrose free throw with :01 remaining. 

Sebert's layup and Steele's three-pointer to open the second half gave UWL a 41-36 lead. Austin Westra's jumper with 12:26 left in the game provided the Eagles with a 53-49 lead, but Matt Hawkins connected on a three-point field goal to cut the deficit to 53-52. Gross answered with a three-pointer of his own for UWL to make it 56-52 with 11:10 remaining, but Cooper's three-point field goal cut it to 56-55 with 10:20 left. The Eagles scored the next six points for a 62-55 lead with 6:11 remaining. 

Chase Larsen's three-pointer with 3:15 left for Augustana (Ill.) cut the lead to 65-64. The Vikings trailed, 67-66, with 1:59 remaining when Ethan Anderson (1:47 left) and Steele (:23) both connected on a pair of free throws to give the Eagles a 71-66 lead. Cooper's layup with :03 remaining cut the lead to 72-70, but Steele made one-of-two at the line with :02 left for the final margin.

UWL shot 42.6% from the field on Wednesday, including 42.9% (nine-of-21) from three-point range, and 85.7% (18-of-21) at the free throw line. Steele led four players in double figures with 19 points, going six-of-10 from the field, including four-of-six from three-point range. He was a three-of-four at the line and added a game-high nine rebounds. Steele's 19 points and nine rebounds are both career-highs. Westra finished with 15 points while Gross added 12 and Hannah 10. Gross' 12 points was also a career-high.

Augustana (Ill.) shot 52.0% from the field, including 47.4% (nine-of-19) from three-point range, and 81.8% (nine-of-11) at the line. Cooper led the Vikings with 19 points while Hawkins finished with 15 and Ambrose 11. 

UWL completes its non-conference schedule at Bethel University (Minn.) on Saturday, December 31 at 1 p.m.