Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 20th on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improved to 8-2 on the season with a 70-63 victory over Hamline University (Minn.) in the UW-Oshkosh BSN Winter Classic Sunday night at the Oshkosh Arena.

The Pipers drop to 6-5 on the season.

UWL raced out to a 7-0 lead on Sunday with layups from Will Fuhrmann and Dustin Derousseau and a three-pointer from Sam Grieger. The Eagles took a 21-13 lead with 13:02 left in the first half on a Torin Hannah three-point field goal. UWL led, 23-15, on a Khris Green layup, but Hamline (Minn.) went on an 11-0 run to take its first lead at 26-23 with 8:01 remaining on a Camden Holecek three-point field goal.

The Eagles scored the next five points to retake a 28-26 advantage on a Derousseau layup, Ben Goedheer hook shot and Derousseau free throw. Austin Holt's layup with 4:36 left tied the game for the Pipers at 28-28. Bradley Cimperman's jumper (3:57 remaining) and Dominic Dosmann's layup (3:33) gave Hamline (Minn.) a 32-28 lead.

Derousseau and Karter Thomas each had layups for the Eagles to tie the game at 32-32. Cimperman's layup with :40 left gave Hamline (Minn.) a 34-32 lead before Derousseau made one free throw with :01 remaining to cut the halftime deficit to 34-33.

Hamline (Minn.) took a 37-33 lead on a Raoul Vaidya three-pointer to start the second half, but UWL went on a 8-0 run to take a 41-37 advantage. Derousseau hit a three-pointer to cut it to 37-36 while JJ Paider's layup gave UWL a 38-37 lead. Grieger's three-point basket provided the Eagles with a 41-37 lead with 16:36 remaining.

UWL took a 53-47 lead with 9:31 left on a Thomas' layup, but layups from Dosmann and Vaidya for Hamline (Minn.) cut the deficit to 53-51. Thomas hit a three-point field goal to extend the lead to 56-51 before Brendan Ebel's layup cut it to 56-53 with 7:46 remaining. The Eagles went on a 10-0 run to take a 66-53 lead with 5:16 left on Goedheer's three-point basket.

The Pipers used an 8-0 run to cut it to 66-61 with 1:44 remaining on Vaidya's layup. The Eagles missed six straight shots from the field and had two turnovers before Thomas made a pair of free throws with :22 left to give UWL a 68-61 lead. After Cimperman hit one free throw with :04 remaining to make it 68-62, Hannah finished the scoring for the Eagles with two free throws with :02 left.

UWL shot 42.2% from the field Sunday, including 47.4% (nine-of-19) from three-point range, and 63.6% (seven-of-11) at the free throw line. The Eagles were six-of-11 (54.6%) from three-point range in the second half.
 

Thomas led four players in double figures with a career-high 22 points. Derousseau finished with 12 points and team-high nine rebounds while tying for the team lead with three assists with Paider and Grieger. Goedheer totaled a career-high 11 points off the bench Sunday while Hannah added 10 off the bench. Goedheer was five-of-six from the field, including hitting his only three-point attempt. Hannah went three-of-five from the field, including two-of-four from three-point range, and two-of-two at the free throw line.

Fuhrmann, Goedheer and Paider each had seven rebounds. UWL outrebounded Hamline (Minn.), 43-33.

Hamline (Minn.) shot 45.0% from the field, including 23.1% (three-of-13) from three-point range, and 50.0% (six-of-12) at the line.

Cimperman led the Pipers with 16 points while Vaidya finished with 13 and Holt 10, who also had a team-high nine rebounds.

UWL returns to action Monday, December 30 facing 12th-ranked Keene State University (N.H.) at 2:30 p.m. in the UW-Oshkosh BSN Winter Classic.