Wheaton, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season with an 84-73 victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) Friday night in the Wheaton College (Ill.) Lee Pfund Classic in King Area.
The Fightin' Engineers drop to 1-2.
UWL advances to the tournament championship game on Saturday, November 22 versus the winner of the other semifinal between Wheaton (Ill.)/The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) Friday night.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, Rose-Hulman (Ind.) took a 5-4 lead on a Nate Smith layup, but UWL scored the next six points on back-to-back three-pointers from
Dustin Derousseau and
Sam Ferge to give the Eagles a 10-5 lead. UWL would not trail the rest of the game.
Joey Schmitz made a three-pointer for the Fightin' Engineers to later cut the lead to 15-10 when
JJ Paider's free throw, Ferge's three-point field goal and Derousseau's layup gave the Eagles a 21-10 lead with 13:55 left in the first half. Derousseau's dunk with 10:39 remaining gave UWL a 25-12.
Rose-Hulman (Ind.) went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 25-20, including Evan Gentile's three-point field goal with 8:01 left. UWL responded with a 8-0 run of its own to make it 33-20 with 5:58 remaining. Paider had a layup in the run with
Jack Crowley and
Jacob Butler each making a three-pointer. The Eagles led by as many as 14 points in the first half, including 42-28, when Daniel Savovic's three-pointer for the Fightin' Engineers with :02 left cut the halftime lead to 42-31.
UWL, ranked seventh on the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, took its largest lead of 15 points on a
Sam Grieger layup with 15:56 remaining. Trailing 55-43, Rose-Hulman (Ind.) cut the lead to 57-51 on a Cole Pride three-point basket with 12:49 left. A three-pointer from Schmitz cut it 58-54 with 11:14 remaining, but the Fightin' Engineers could get no closer the rest of the game.
Will McElheney's free throw with 4:31 left cut the deficit to 73-68, but back-to-back three-pointers from Crowley and Derousseau extended UWL's lead to 79-68.
Seven players scored in double figures for UWL with six reaching double figures. Derousseau led the Eagles with 18 points while adding four assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Paider finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Grieger totaling 15 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Butler added 12 points while Ferge finishing with 11 and Crowley with 10.
UWL shot 49.2% from the field, including 38.7% (12-of-31) from three-point range, and 73.7% (14-of-19) at the free throw line. The Eagles were six-of-13 (46.2%) from three-point range in the second half.
JT Gritzmacher earned his 100th career victory as a head coach with Friday's win. In his third year at the helm of the Eagles, Gritzmacher improved to 43-18 at UWL after recording a 57-30 mark in three seasons at Bryant & Stratton College (Wis.).
Schmitz led Rose-Hulman (Ind.) with 22 points while McElheney finishing with 12 and Savovic 11. Cole Pride had a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Fightin' Engineers shot 47.4% from the field, including 34.5% (10-of-29) from three-point range, and 69.2% (nine-of-13) at the line.
