The UW-River Falls men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking road contest to the Viterbo University V-Hawks 75-74 on a last second layup despite 19 points and eight rebounds from Falcons junior forward Jon Christensen.

The Falcons led 74-73 with 27 seconds left in the second half after two made free throws by sophomore point guard Grant Erickson, but V-Hawks sophomore forward David Shepard sealed the victory for Viterbo with a layup with two second left on the game clock. UWRF led 35-34 at half after shooting 57.7 percent from the field. The Falcons shot 52.9 percent from the field on the night, but the V-Hawks shot even better at 55.8 percent.

Christensen went 7-11 from the field, including 2-4 from downtown, and added a team-high four assists. Christensen has scored in double figures in all but three contests this season. Junior center Connor Goodwin scored 14 points while snagging four rebounds. Erickson, freshman guard CJ Lewis and freshman forward Brennan Witt all scored nine points each. Witt's nine points were a career high. Erickson also finished with six steals, a season high.

UWRF won the turnover battle 13-10, but were outrebounded by two. The Falcons missed eight free throws, which proved to be a big reason for the loss. UWRF's bench outscored Viterbo 25-8. The Falcons were dominated in the paint, however, only scoring four points to Viterbo's 22.

The first was a half of streaks as Viterbo led by as many as 10, and UWRF led by as many as 12. Viterbo opened the game with a 16-6 run, but then the Falcons went on a 27-5 tear. UWRF held the lead until a Shepard layup with 4:54 left in the second half when he put Viterbo ahead 68-67.

UWRF drops to 5-5 overall and 2-4 on the road. Viterbo improves to 7-5 overall and 4-2 at home. The two teams are now 6-6 against each other all-time.

The Falcons will be competing in the UW-Whitewater Holiday Tournament next weekend in Whitewater, Wisconsin. UWRF opens the tournament against the Kalamazoo College Hornets at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19. It will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.