St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 12th on D3hoops.com, completed its non-conference schedule with a 84-53 win at Bethel University (Minn.) Saturday afternoon in Robertson Center Gym. The Eagles improve to 11-2 on the season while the Royals drop to 3-8.

UWL finishes its non-conference season with a 9-2 record with Saturday's victory. 

The Eagles never trailed Saturday. Leading 5-4, UWL went on a 14-4 run to make it 19-8 on Jake Gross' jumper with 13:59 left in the first half. Bethel (Minn.) cut the lead to 19-15 on a Josh Hoffman layup, but UWL went on a 12-0 run to lead 31-15. Ethan Anderson had six points in the run while Craig Steele had four. Craig Steele's three-pointer later gave the Eagles a 36-17 lead with 5:31 remaining. UWL led, 49-25, at halftime with Steele scoring 13 points and Austin Westra 10. 

UWL shot 61.8% (21-of-34) from the field in the first half, including 60.0% (six-of-10) from three-point range. 

The Eagles led by as many as 36 points in the second half with the Royals getting no closer than 22. 

UWL shot 54.8% from the field Saturday, including 45.0% (nine-of-20) from three-point range, and 77.8% (seven-of-nine) at the free throw line. Westra led the Eagles with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. He finished seven-of-nine from the field and three-of-three at the line. Steele totaled 15 points, six rebounds and two steals while Anderson finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. 

Bethel (Minn.) shot 31.1% from the field, including 19.0% (four-of-21) from three-point range, 57.9% (11-of-19) at the line. Zach Doely led the Royals with 15 points while Hoffman finished with 14 and Tommy Jensen 10. Doely had a game-high eight rebounds.

UWL returns to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play Wednesday, January 4 hosting UW-Platteville at 7 p.m.