Wheaton, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team captured the Wheaton College (Ill.) Lee Pfund Classic Saturday night in King Arena with a 70-66 victory over the host Thunder.
UWL, ranked seventh on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 5-0 on the season while Wheaton (Ill.) drops to 4-2.
It is UWL's first 5-0 start since winning its first nine games in 2022-23.
JJ Paider finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds Saturday.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, Wheaton (Ill.) scored the game's first eight points, including three-pointers from Soren Richardson and Carson Grier. UWL responded with a 10-0 run
Sam Grieger scoring six points and
Dustin Derousseau four.
Sam Ferge's three-pointer with 11:33 remaining in the first half gave the Eagles a 15-11 lead, but back-to-back layups from Kyan VanderWoude and Brady Wynja for the Thunder tied the game.
Leading 21-18 with 6:38 left, UWL went on a 7-2 run to take a 28-20 lead with 3:50 remaining after Derousseau's three-pointer. The Eagles led, 34-29, at halftime.
Reid Olson's free throw for Wheaton (Ill.) with 16:28 left cut the lead to 41-37 when UWL scored the next seven points to extend its lead to 48-37.
The Thunder later cut the deficit 51-46 with 11:18 remaining, but four points from
JJ Paider and two from Derousseau gave the Eagles a 57-46 advantage. Wheaton (Ill.) cut the lead to 59-55 with 5:26 left, but baskets by Paider and Grieger for UWL made it 63-55 with 2:36 remaining.
Richardson's four-play play with :54 left cut the lead to 65-63, but Grieger's three-point play gave UWL a 68-63 lead with :39 remaining. Olson's three-pointer with :32 left cut it 68-66, but Grieger made a pair of free throws with :10 remaining to finish the scoring.
Four players scored for UWL, including Grieger with a game-high 30 points. He added a game-high six assists. Paider recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds while Derousseau finished with 13 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Ferge totaled 11 points and three steals.
The Eagles shot 47.3% from the field, including 20.0% (four-of-20) from three-point range, and 66.7% (14-of-21) at the free throw line.
Grieger and Paider were named to the all-tournament team with Grieger being selected the Most Valuable Player.
Richardson led four Wheaton (Ill.) players in double figures with 19 points. Kyan VanderWoude and Olson each finished with 13 points while Grier scored 11. Wynja had a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Thunder shot 41.7% from the field, including 37.5% (nine-of-24) form three-point range, and 70.0% (seven-of-10) at the line.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, November 26 hosting Saint John's University (Minn.) at 3 p.m. in Mitchell Hall in the Eagles' home opener.
