La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament Second Round with a 120-93 win over Greenville University (Ill.) Friday night at The La Crosse Center.
The Eagles, ranked fifth on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 23-5 on the season. The 23 wins extend UWL's single-season school record for victories. UWL advances to host St. Norbert College (Wis.) in the second round Saturday, March 8 at 6:50 p.m. The Green Knights earned a 92-89 victory over Carthage College (Wis.) Friday night in the first round.
Sam Grieger totaled 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Greenville (Ill.) finishes its season at 20-8.
UWL, making its fourth appearance in the NCAA III Tournament, earned its first win in the national championships since a 90-86 victory over Heidelberg University (Ohio) in 2022 first round. The Eagles are now 2-3 all-time in the NCAA III Tournament.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, UWL never trailed in Friday's win. The Eagles scored the first six points of the game on a
JJ Paider dunk and pair of
Sam Grieger layups. UWL took a 16-7 lead with 15:29 left in the first half after
Dustin Derousseau's layup. Greenville (Ill.) used an 11-2 run to force an 18-18 tie with 13:50 remaining on Carlos Crespo's layup.
The teams traded layups by UWL's
Griffin Ginder and Greenville's (Ill.) Taiemm Comeaux to make it 20-20. The Eagles scored the next seven points to take a 27-20 lead with 10:58 left. Paider had three points and
Karter Thomas four in the run.
A pair of Jaylen Williams free throws with 10:40 remaining for the Panthers cut the lead to 27-22, but Greenville (Ill.) would get no closer the rest of the game.
JJ Paider led UWL with 28 points and 12 rebounds Friday night.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Thomas and Derousseau extended the Eagles' lead to 33-22 with 9:52 left. Isaiah Griffin's three-pointer cut it to 35-27, but five straight points gave UWL a 39-27 advantage.
UWL took its largest lead of the first half at 61-44 on Paider's layup with :25 remaining.
The Panthers could get no closer than 16 points in the second half on Grimmett Glenn's three-point field goal with 17:37 left.
Will Fuhrmann and Paider gave the Eagles a 69-49 lead after a pair of layups. UWL led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
UWL shot 57.0% from the field Friday, including 23.1% (six-of-26) from three-point range, and 75.0% (24-of-32) at the free throw line.
The Eagles' 120 points ranks fourth in single-game school history. UWL had a school record 146 points versus Grinnell College (Iowa) on December 9, 2001. The Eagles scored 127 points against Grinnell (Iowa) on November 25, 2001. UWL finished with 122 points versus Northland College (Wis.) on February 4, 1984.
UWL's 45 field goals made on Friday ranks seventh in single-game school history while its 30 assists in the victory are tied for ninth. The team's 63 rebounds are third-most in school history.
Paider led six players in double figures with 28 points while having a team-high 12 rebounds. Thomas finished with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench while Grieger totaled 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Karter Thomas totaled 21 points off the bench.
Derousseau added 17 points and seven rebounds while leading UWL with nine assists, three blocks and three steals. Fuhrmann finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists with
CJ Campbell recording 13 points.
Greenville (Ill.) shot 34.3% from the field, including 26.2% (11-of-42) from three-point range, and 90.9% (10-of-11) at the line.
Glenn led the Panthers with 16 points while Williams finished with 13. Crespo and Isaiah Griffin each had 11 points with Comeaux totaling 10 points.
