Virginia Beach, Va. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team opened its 2025-26 season with a 77-75 overtime victory Friday night over Hampden-Sydney College (Va.) in the TowneBank Tipoff Tournament at Virginia Wesleyan University. The game was played in TowneBank Arena.
The Eagles entered the game ranked seventh on the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 Poll while the Tigers are ranked 17th on the poll.
UWL took a 74-70 lead in overtime as
Sam Grieger connected on a three-pointer (4:14 left) and free throw (2:58). Peter Moye's three-point field goal with 2:39 remaining cut the lead to 75-73 for Hampden-Sydney (Va.) and Alex Cannon's layup with 1:49 left tied the game. Grieger then connected on the game-winning tip-in at the buzzer.
Moye gave Hampden-Sydney (Va.) a 38-30 lead in the second half on a layup when UWL went on a 9-0 run to take a 39-38 lead with 16:30 remaining.
Jacob Butler had five points and
JJ Paider four in the run. The Eagles took a 46-41 lead with 14:09 left after
Dustin Derousseau's three-point basket.
A 12-4 run gave Hampden-Sydney (Va.) a 53-50 advantage with 8:57 remaining. Tugg Bizzelle's layup later gave the Tigers a 55-51 lead, but Derousseau's two free throws and Grieger's jumper tied the game. Hampden-Sydney (Va.) scored the game's next six points and later led, 64-60 with 3:45 left on Travis Stickney's three-pointer.
Grieger's free throw and Derousseau's three-point field goal tied the contest before Stickney made two free throws gave the Tigers a 66-64 lead.
Jacob Butler's three-pointer gave the Eagles 67-66 lead with 1:01 left. Santana Lynch made two free throws for Hampden-Sydney (Va.) with :42 remaining to give the Tigers a one-point lead. Grieger's three-point play with :25 gave the Eagles a 70-68 lead before Bizzelle's layup with :05 forced overtime.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, UWL took a 9-8 lead on a Derousseau three-point field goal with 14:57 left in the first half. Hampden-Sydney (Va.) scored the game's next seven points to take a 15-9 advantage after Cannon's layup with 12:25 remaining.
The Eagles later cut the deficit to 19-17 on a Grieger layup, but a 10-3 run gave the Tigers a 29-22 lead after Moye hit a three-pointer with 4:55 left.
Ben Goedheer's three-point field goal for UWL with 4:36 remaining and a Grieger free throw with 3:26 left cut the lead to 29-26 before Moye's three-pointer (2:16) and Stickney's jumper (1:22) gave Hampden-Sydney (Va.) a 34-26 halftime advantage.
UWL shot 43.3% from the field, including 43.3% (nine-of-30) from three-point range, and 55.6% (10-of-18) at the free throw line.
Grieger led the Eagles with a career-high 36 points, finishing with 26 in the second half and overtime. His 36 points are the most for UWL since Tony Mane finished with 37 versus UW-Superior on February 5, 2011.
Derousseau finished with 14 points and team-high eight rebounds Friday while Butler added 10 points and five rebounds. Paider totaled seven points and six rebounds.
Hampden-Sydney (Va.) shot 51.9% from the field, including 37.5% (six-of-16) from three-point range, and 59.1% (13-of-22) at the line.
Moye led the Tigers with 18 points with Stickney finishing with 13, Lynch 12 and Colin Radcliffe 10. Stickney had a team-high eight rebounds.
UWL faces 14th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan in the championship game of the tip-off tournament on Saturday, November 8 at 3 p.m.
