Box Score Four Falcons hit double figures as the UWRF men's basketball team erased a 16 point second half deficit in a 79-75 win over the Northwestern University Eagles on Monday evening in the UW-Eau Claire Holiday Classic.
Freshman forward
Grant Erickson and senior forward
Ben Gresmer led the comeback with 20 points each, giving both players career highs. Erickson drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to push the Falcons lead to five. He later sealed the deal with two clutch last second free throws. Gresmer carried the Falcons in the first half with 11 of the team's 29 points. Erickson's five assists led his team; he also grabbed six rebounds.
Senior forward
Ollie White had a prototypical stellar evening with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. White has now scored in double figures in all 11 games this year. His 13 rebounds were a career high. White's three-point play with 1:07 left in the contest gave the Falcons their first lead of the night.
Junior guard
Jay Sewer was the Falcons' unsung hero, contributing 12 points off the bench. Sewer went a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc, while contributing two rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Three-pointers doomed the Eagles as Sewer (4-4), Gresmer (5-7) and Erickson (2-4) combined to go 11-15 from beyond the arc.
The Eagles led nearly the entire game, but UWRF fought back and tied the contest at 57 with 8:38 left in the second half after going on a 20-9 run. Northwestern later regained the lead but could not stop the hot-shooting Falcons. UWRF shot 59 percent in the second half, 26 percent better than the first.
The Eagles' excellent free throw shooting helped build their 10 point first half lead as they shot a perfect 11-11 from the stripe. UWRF only made 4 of 7 attempts in the first.
Both teams took care of the basketball as UWRF and Northwestern collectively had a mere 10 turnovers.
Falcons senior forward
Zach Smith finished the contest with four offensive rebounds, tying him for the team lead with White. Smith's five overall rebounds were a season high. The Falcons outrebounded Northwestern 28-21, thanks in large part to Smith and White's presence under the boards.
Senior guard
Justin Behnke finished the night with three assists, tying his previous career high.
UWRF trailed 39-29 at halftime, but tallied 50 second half points in route to victory.
Neither team had the hot hand on offense in the first half as the Falcons shot 33 percent; the Eagles meanwhile shot 34 percent. UWRF held Northwestern to 38 percent from the field for the game.
Northwestern was led by sophomore guard Blake Van Maanen, who contributed 15 points.
UWRF improved to 10-1 all-time against Northwestern University (3-7). The Falcons are now 4-1 on neutral courts.
The Falcons (5-6) finish the UW-Eau Claire Holiday Classic against the Northland College Lumberjacks (2-6) tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.
Box Score
