Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 84-83 overtime victory at UW-Stevens Point Saturday night at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.

The Eagles, ranked 14th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, earned their 13th straight win over the Pointers on Saturday. UW-Stevens Point, ranked 16th, drops to 11-3 on the season, including 1-2 in the WIAC.

The game was tied six times in the first half. Seth Miron's three-pointer for UW-Stevens Point tied the game at 13-13 with 10:41 remaining in the first half before Sam Grieger's three-point basketball a Will Fuhrmann free throw gave UWL a 17-13 advantage. The Eagles later took a 22-17 lead with 7:44 left on Karter Thomas' three-point play. Miron's three-point play and Cal Krohn's layup for the Pointers tied the game at 22-22.
 

UW-Stevens Point took a 24-23 lead on Miron's two free throws with 5:04 remaining. UWL responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead at 31-24. Grieger's three-point basketball gave the Eagles a 26-24 lead followed by a JJ Paider layup and three free throws by Thomas.

Darrius Bolden's three-pointer for UW-Stevens Point cut the deficit to 31-27, but a Paider jumper, Grieger three-pointer and Will Fuhrmann free throw extended UWL's lead to 37-27 with 1:03 left. Fuhrmann connected on a three-pointer with: 02 remaining to give the Eagles a 42-31 lead.

UWL led 47-37 with 18:03 left on a Fuhrmann three-pointer, but UW-Stevens Point 9-0 run to cut the lead to 47-46 with 15:47 remaining after Miron's layup. Ben Goedheer's layup gave the Eagles a 49-46 advantage when the Pointers went on an 8-0 run to take a 54-49 advantage with 12:04 left. UW-Stevens Point led by as many as six at 61-55 with 8:35 remaining on Malik Abdul-Wahid's three-point play.

The Eagles went on a 10-0 run of their own to take a 65-61 lead with 7:17 left on a Grieger free throw. The Pointers later took a 68-67 lead with 3:58 remaining, but Grieger's jumper gave the lead back to the Eagles at 69-68 with 3:43 left. UW-Stevens Point led 75-73 with 1:13 remaining on an Abdul-Wahid three-point field goal when Thomas connected on a pair of game-tying free throws with :27 left. Butler missed a potential game-winning field goal at the buzzer.

UWL never trailed in overtime, getting a layup from Paider and jumper from Grieger to open the extra period and a 79-75 lead. Logan Baumgartner's layup for the Pointers cut it to 81-79 with 2:37 left. Grieger made one free throw with 2:16 remaining for a three-point lead. UW-Stevens Point missed a pair of shots and had a turnover before Grieger made two free throws with :57 left to make it 84-79. Bolden's layup cut it to 84-81 with :44 remaining. UWL missed a three-point attempt and Bolden was fouled with :09 left. He converted both free throws to cut it to 84-83. The Eagles turned the ball over on their next possession, but Krohn's potential game-winning jumper missed with :01 remaining.

UWL shot 46.3% from the field, including 39.1% (nine-of-23) from three-point range, and 71.4% 25-of-35) at the free throw line. The Eagles were six-of-11 (54.6%) from three-point range in the first half.

Grieger led four players in double figures with a career-high 30 points, going four-of-seven from three-point range and 12-of-14 at the line. Thomas finished with 19 points while Paider totaled 11 and Fuhrmann 10. Thomas was eight-of-nine at the line. Paider and Fuhrmann each had seven rebounds.

UW-Stevens Point shot 47.1% from the field, including 21.7% (five-of-23) from three-point range, and 66.7% (14-of-21) at the line. Miron led four Pointers in double figures with 19 points. Abdul-Wahid finished with 18 points, Bolden 17 and Krohn 10. Josiah Butler had a game-high nine rebounds.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 15 at UW-Stout at 7 p.m.


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