La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team concluded its regular season with a 101-79 victory over UW-Eau Claire Saturday night in Mitchell Hall.
The Eagles, ranked 21st on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll and 22nd in the NCAA Power Index (NPI), improve to 19-6 overall and 9-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Blugolds drop to 14-11 overall and 3-11 in the WIAC.
Sam Grieger scored 29 points in Saturday's win.
UWL has now won 13 of the last 15 meetings between the teams.
The Eagles honored their four seniors,
Jacob Butler,
Dustin Derousseau,
JJ Paider and
Kade Van Asten prior to the start of the game.
UWL never trailed in the contest, taking a 7-2 lead with five points from
Sam Grieger. UW-Eau Claire cut it to 10-8 on Andre Renta's three-point field goal, but a 8-0 run by Derousseau extended UWL's lead to 18-8 with 14:30 remaining in the first half.
The Blugolds later cut the deficit to 33-31 with 5:56 left on Xavier Lewis' three-point play, but five points from Butler and three from Van Asten gave the Eagles a 41-31 lead. UWL led, 46-41, at halftime.
UWL opened the second half 12-0 run to take a 58-41 lead with 17:13 remaining. UW-Eau Claire could get no closer than 15 points the rest of the game.
The Eagles led by as many as 24 points in the second half.
UWL shot 53.7% from the field, including 45.5% (15-of-33) from three-point range, and 82.4% (14-of-17) at the free throw line.
Dustin Derousseau had 21 points and eight assists in the win.
Grieger led four players in double figures with 29 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Derousseau totaled 21 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks while Paider finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Butler had 10 points.
Van Asten scored nine points off the bench.
UW-Eau Claire shot 44.6% from the field, including 41.9% (13-of-31) from three-point range, and 80.0% (16-of-20) at the line. Renta led the Blugolds with a game-high 30 points. He added a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists. Luke Reder totaled 13 points and Tyler Haney 10.
UWL returns to action in the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's). The top six teams in the regular season standings advance to the league tournament with the top two earning a first round bye. The first round is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24 with the semifinals on Thursday, February 26. The championship game is set for Saturday, February 28.
