Box Score The UW-River Falls men's basketball team was defeated by the visiting University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles, 64-63, on Wednesday evening at the Karges Center.
Senior forward
Ollie White scored a team-high 21 points in the loss, on 8-11 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds, along with two assists. White drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Eagle lead to one, but it was too little, too late.
Late missed opportunities around the basket doomed the Falcons, who trailed by 10 at half. The Falcons were better in every stage of the game in the second half, but failed to make key baskets in key moments. The two teams first met on Dec. 4, where the Eagles won by 28 points in La Crosse, Wis. Tonight, the difference was one.
The Eagles carried a 34-24 lead into halftime after shooting 45.5 percent from the field. The Eagles also knocked down 50 percent of their three's to stretch their lead to 10. The Falcons outrebounded UW-La Crosse 18-13 in the first, but failed to make the most of their six offensive rebounds. White led the Falcons with nine first half points, while junior guard
Jay Sewer contributed three assists and senior forward
Zach Smith rebounded four basketballs.
The Falcons shot just 34.6 percent in the first half, while turning the ball over seven times. You can thank the speedy and technically sound UW-La Crosse defense for the lack of Falcon scoring in the first half. Eagles senior guard Luke Tweed led all scorers in the first half with 13.
Back-to-back three's from senior forward
David Berthene and senior guard
Justin Behnke cut the Eagle lead down to two with 6:30 left in the first. Later, a
Jordan Crockett floater and a
Grant Erickson streaking layup kept the Falcons within six points late in the half, but the Eagles finished the first on an 8-3 run.
The second half was an entirely different story. The Falcons outscored the Eagles 39-30 and only turned the ball over four times, while winning the rebound battle, 22-14.
Sewer started the second frame with a three-pointer, cutting the lead to seven. Soon after, Sewer set up White for an open layup. The Falcons opened the half on a 7-2 run. After an Eagles flurry, Sewer scored five consecutive points to claw away at the deficit.
With just under six minutes to play in regulation, the Falcons went on another 7-2 run to cut the lead to four. A Sewer three, Erickson jumper and Smith layup tightened the contest to 59-55, in favor of the Eagles.
After two offensive rebounds, Smith made a contested layup to make it a 63-60 game with 18 seconds left on the clock. One Eagle free-throw with 7 seconds left in the contest was the difference maker.
Sewer was the only other Falcon in double figures, with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists. Sewer played one of his better all-around games of the season. He single-handedly started the second half comeback, hitting three clutch three-pointers.
Erickson finished with eight points, on 2-3 shooting, along with two rebounds and three assists. Smith had a game-high nine rebounds to go along with his seven points.
Overall, the Falcons shot 40 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. They finished the game with 40 rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds.
UW-River Falls dropped to 7-14 overall, 2-10 in the WIAC, 2-6 at home and have now lost four in a row. The Eagles are now 13-8 overall, 7-5 in the WIAC and 4-6 on the road. The Falcon loss makes it extremely difficult for UW-River Falls to make it to the six-team WIAC tournament.
The Falcons play host to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
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