Box Score River Falls, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse picked up a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Conference (WIAC) win Wednesday night as it defeated the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 67-61, at Don Page Arena. The win moves the Eagles, ranked 23rd this week on D3hoops.com, to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the WIAC. The Falcons fall to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
Austin Westra had 12 points.
UW-River Falls took an early 3-2 on a free throw by Rodrick Payne with 16:53 on the clock in the first half. UWL went on a 14-2 run to take a 16-5 lead with 14:50 remaining in the opening period.
Ethan Anderson and
Austin Westra each scored six points to help spark the early run. A
Mack Sebert jumper gave the Eagles their largest lead of the first half at 27-11 with 9:27 left. A three-point play by Payne pulled the Falcons to within 29-19, but that would be as close as the Falcons would get in the first half as the Eagles led 39-26 at halftime.
Craig Steele hit a three-pointer with :02 left for the final points of the first half.
UWL shot 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the floor, including five-of-12 (41.7%) from three-point range, in the first half. Westra finished first half with 10 points while Anderson added six.
A three-pointer by Anderson followed by a jumper from Westra to start the second half gave UWL a 44-28 lead. A three-pointer from Logan Jedwabny started a 16-4 run as UW-River Falls cut the deficit to 48-44 with 11:39 left in the second half. Payne sparked the run with nine points.
The Eagles responded with eight straight points including back-to-back three-pointers from
Henry Noone and Steele to give them a 56-44 lead with 8:12 remaining. Trailing 60-52, UW-River Falls scored six of next eight points to trail 62-58 with :56 remaining but that would be as close as they would get.
Craig Steele finished with 12 points.
For the game, UWL finished 25-of-52 (48.1%) from the floor, including eight-of-20 (40.0%) from the three-point line. The Eagles were nine-of-14 (64.3%) at the free throw line. UWL had three-players in double figures with Anderson finishing with a team-high 15 points. Westra and Steel each added 12 points. Westra also added a team-high six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Anderson chipped in three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Anderson tied the school record for career games played at UWL on Wednesday, tying the record of 108 set by
Corey Block (1986-99).
UW-River Falls finished the game 22-for-45 (48.9%) from the floor, including three-of-seven (42.9%) from the three-point line. The Falcons were 14-of-21 (66.7%) at the line. Payne led UW-River Falls with 30 points while Dylan Parker and Mason Anderson each had seven. Marshall Holland finished with a game-high eight rebounds.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 21 when it travels to Zorn Arena to play the Blugolds of UW-Eau Claire. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
