Chicago, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 80-67 victory at North Park University (Ill.) Saturday night in Carlson Gymnasium. The Eagles, ranked seventh on the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 Poll, improve to 3-0, while the Vikings drop to 2-1.
UWL led the first eight minutes of the game before North Park (Ill.) took a 12-11 lead on a pair of William Bates free throws with 11:36 left in the first half. The Vikings took their largest lead of the game at 16-12 with 10:47 remaining on a Bates' three-pointer.
The Eagles took a 28-25 lead on a
JJ Paider layup before the Vikings made it 28-27 on a Jerome Smith, Jr. jumper. UWL went on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 35-27 on a Paider three-point play, a pair of
Sam Grieger free throws and
Jacob Butler layup.
UWL led, 37-30, at halftime.
Dustin Derousseau's layup to open the second half gave the Eagles a 39-30 advantage. The Vikings cut the deficit to 43-40 with 15:29 remaining on a Lazario Cornish layup, but North Park (Ill.) could get no closer the rest of the game.
Devon Fielding's three-pointer and two free throws from Paider extended UWL's lead to 48-40.
Bates' layup with 8:47 left cut the lead to 57-47, but
Jack Crowley's three-point field goal and Grieger's two free throws made it 6247 with 6:21 remaining. UWL led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
UWL shot 44.4% from the field, including 27.6% (eight-of-29) from three-point range, and 68.6% (24-of-35) at the free throw line.
Paider led the Eagles with 21 points while Derousseau finished with 20 points and Grieger 19. Paider and Grieger tied for the team lead with nine rebounds while Derousseau had a team-high six assists and three steals. Paider, Derousseau and Grieger combined for 60 points, 24 rebounds and 13 assists in the win.
North Park (Ill.) shot 41.9% from the field, including 23.8% (five-of-21) from three-point range, and 62.5% (10-of-16) at the line.
Bates led the Vikings with 19 points off the bench while Kolden Vanlandingham had 13 points and game-high 11 rebounds and seven assists.
UWL returns to action Friday, November 21 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Lee Pfund Classic. The Eagles face Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) at 5 p.m.
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