Box Score The UW-River Falls Falcon men's basketball team came charging back late in the second half after being down by 17 to the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds but fell 59-57 led by
Ben Gresmer and
Ollie White who combined for 38 points.
Gresmer went 6-10 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line to finish with 20 points. He also added five rebounds and three assists. White went 7-13 for 18 points and grabbed five boards.
UWEC won the first half out rebounding the Falcons 20-12 and hit six first half three pointers. Adam Hjelter hit three first half three points and Lewis Mau hit two. Both players finished the game with 15 points. The Blugolds finished the game 9-21 (43%) from three point range and 21-45 (46%) from the field in the game.
UWEC opened up the second half with a seven point run and led by 17 with 16:57 left in the game. The Falcons slowly climbed back but with just under six minutes to go were still down 55-44 to UWEC.
With 3:29 left in the game
Devin Buckley hit a big three pointer to pull UWRF within seven points. Just moments later
Grant Erickson hit a lay up to bring the game within in five and
Jay Sewer stole the inbounds pass finding Gresmer wide open for a lay in.
Listen to WRFW's Ryan Odeen and Ben Lamers make a call on an Erickson lay in, a steal by Sewer and another lay in by Gresmer.
Buckley and Erickson both hit clutch free throws down the stretch to help UWRF pull within one point with 48 seconds to go. Hjelter hit a free throw with 42 seconds left for the final point of the game to give the Blugolds a 59-57 lead. Sewer put up a three pointer as the clock hit zero but it did not fall.
UWRF finished 18-45 (40%) from the field but went just 3-17 (17%) from behind the arc. They hit 18-23 (78%) from the charity stripe and forced 16 UWEC turnovers. They had just 10 turnovers in the game but did get out rebounded 32-26 by UWEC.
Buckley added 11 points and a team high six rebounds including hitting all four of his free throws.
UWRF falls to 6-8 on the season and will play next against UW-Oshkosh Saturday at home with tip off set for 7 p.m.
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