Collegeville, Minn. - In a match-up of nationally ranked teams, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned an 80-71 victory at Saint John's University (Minn.) Wednesday afternoon in Sexton Arena. The Eagles, ranked 21st on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 5-1 on the season while the Johnnies, ranked 15th, drops to 4-2.
Neither team led by more than three points in the first 10 minutes of the game. UWL took a 17-6 lead on a
Khris Green free throw, but Saint John's (Minn.) Kyle Johnson hit a three-point field goal and Blake Berg a layup to the give the Johnnies a 21-17 lead.
Will Fuhrmann's three-pointer and
Dustin Derousseau's dunk gave UWL a 22-21 lead with 8:57 remaining in the first half. Green's pair of free throws with 4:37 left gave the Eagles a 33-30 lead when the Johnnies scored the next eight points to take a 38-33 advantage. Ryan Thissen and Luke Healy hit back-to-back three-pointers for Saint John's (Minn.).
JJ Paider recorded a double-double
with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
UWL cut the halftime deficit to 41-37 on
JJ Paider's layup with :12 remaining.
Saint John's (Minn.) took a 49-43 lead with 16:07 left after Berg's jumper. UWL went on a 6-0 run to force a 49-49 tie on Fuhrmann's two free throws and jumper and
Griffin Ginder's layup. Johnson made a pair of free throws to later give the Johnnies a 53-51 lead with 11:47 remaining.
Sam Grieger's jumper and
Karter Thomas' layup give the Eagles a 55-53 advantage.
UWL maintained its lead until Griffin Rushin made a jumper for Saint John's (Minn.) to give the Johnnies a 64-63 lead with 5:31 left. Grieger's jumper and Paider's layup gave the Eagles a 67-64 advantage, but Rushin's three-pointer with 3:31 remaining tied the game.
Grieger's layup with 3:10 left gave UWL a 69-67 lead and the Eagles would not trail the rest of the game. Paider's three-point play with 2:04 remaining made it 72-67. Kooper Vaughn made a pair of free throws for Saint John's (Minn.) to cut it to 72-69, but Paider and Thomas both made two free throws to extend the lead to 76-69. Saint John's (Minn.) could get no closer than five points the rest of the game.
UWL shot 42.6% from the field, including 21.7% (five-of-23) from three-point range, and 85.0% (17-of-20) at the free throw line. Grieger led our players in double figures with 21 points while Paider recorded a double-double with 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Thomas scored 13 points off the bench and Fuhrmann finished with 11.
Saint John's (Minn.) shot 40.6% from the field, including 29.6% (eight-of-27) from three-point range, and 87.5% (seven-of-eight) at the line. Berg led four Johnnies in double figures with 17 points while Thissen finished with 14, Rushin 12 and Zach Longueville 11.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, December 4 at Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at 6 p.m.
