Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 23rd on D3hoops.com, earned a 68-66 victory at UW-Eau Claire Saturday night in Zorn Arena. With the win, the Eagles improve to 15-4 overall adn 6-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blugolds fall to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

UWL led, 66-58, with 3:03 left after Craig Steele's jumper, but UW-Eau Claire scored the next eight points to force a 66-66 tie on Brock Voigt's jumper with :27 remaining. The Eagles' Will Fuhrmann was fouled on a drive to the basket with :05 left. He converted both free throws to give UWL a 68-66 lead. After a UW-Eau Claire timeout, UWL's Ethan Anderson blocked Voigt's potential game-tying layup at the buzzer. 

UWL never trailed in Saturday's game, taking a 19-11 lead on a pair of free throws from Torin Hannah. The Blugolds cut the deficit to 19-16, but the Eagles took their largest lead of the game at 27-17 with 5:31 left on a JJ Paider layup. UWL led, 32-22, when UW-Eau Claire used a 9-2 run to trail 34-31 on an Alex Voigt three-point field goal. Hannah's three-point play with :02 made it 37-31, but Nolan Blair's three-pointer at the buzzer cut the lead to 37-34.

The Eagles took a 54-47 advantage with 9:48 remaining on a Henry Noone three-point field goal. The Blugolds went on an 9-2 run to tie the game at 56-56 with 8:08 left. UWL quickly responded with a 10-2 run of its own to take a 66-58 lead with 3:03 remaining. 

UWL shot 45.5% from the field Saturday, including 30.8% (four-of-13) from three-point range, and 100.0% (14-of-14) at the free throw line. The Eagles set a single-game school record with their 100.0% (14-of-14) at the line. With a minimum of 13 attempts, UWL has only shot 100.0% on one other occasion when it finished 13-of-13 against UW-Platteville on February 26, 1994.

Fuhrmann led the Eagles with 17 points and six rebounds on Saturday while JJ Paider and Austin Westra each totaled 12 points. Westra tied Fuhrmann for the team lead with six rebounds. Hannah scored 10 points off the bench.

UWL improved to 10-0 on the road with the win.

UW-Eau Claire shot 45.8% from the field, including 35.0% (seven-of-20) from three-point range, and 78.9% (15-of-19) at the line. Huschka led the Blugolds with 19 points and five rebounds. Alex Voigt finished with 14 points and Brock Voigt 10.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 25 hosting UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.