Box Score

SUPERIOR, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The UW-River Falls Men's basketball team (0-2, 0-0 WIAC) led by senior forward Jon Christensen's third straight double-double cruised to a 67-55 victory over UW-Superior (0-1, 0-0 UMAC) in the Thanksgiving Day Classic. UWRF notched the team's first victory of the season in the win over the Yellowjackets.

This was the first meeting between the two schools since UW-Superior moved from the WIAC to the UMAC.

The two teams exchanged blows to begin the first half with neither team leading by more than four points for the first 12 minutes of the game. With the score tied 16-16 with 7:36 to go in the first half, the Falcons went on their longest run of the season with a 13-0 spurt led by senior center Brandon Johnson with six of the 13 points.

The Falcons at that point led 29-16 with 1:41 to go in the first half. The Falcons ended the first half on a 17-5 run to take a commanding 33-21 lead going into the locker room.  
At halftime the Falcons were led by Christensen with five points and seven rebounds as well as Garett Pearson with seven points and two rebounds.

The second half proved to be a more competitive basketball game with both teams trading baskets to start the second half. The Falcons held the Yellowjackets at bay, the Yellowjackets only came within six points of the Falcons in the entire second half, and that was coming with 1:26 to go when the Yellowjackets trailed 61-55. The Falcons went on to tally the last six points of the game to close out the victory.

Cruising to the 12 point victory, the Falcons had four starters score in double figures in the game with Pearson scoring 10 points in the second half to finish with 17 points on 7-10 shooting to go along with his six rebounds.

Christensen's eighth career double-double as a Falcon included 13 points and 10 rebounds while being in the game for a team-high 35 minutes. Senior Jack Herum put up his season high in points with 13 on 5-8 shooting and CJ Lewis added 10 points with two three pointers. Johnson also added six off the bench.

As a team the Falcons shot 24-52 (46.2 percent) from the floor and held the Yellowjackets to 22-60 (36.7 percent). UWRF outhustled UW- Superior on the boards with UWRF having 43 rebounds to the Yellowjackets 31 on the night and had 14 second chance points.

Free throws played a vital part to the game with the Yellowjackets fouling the Falcons 26 times and sent them to the line 28 times where the Falcons shot 17-28 (60.7 percent).

Heaving up 18 three pointers, the Yellowjackets died by the three point shot shooting 3-18 (16.7 percent) from the floor. The Falcons shot seven threes with Lewis connecting on the only two makes for the Falcons.

The Falcons (1-2, 0-0 WIAC) look to take the crown at the Thanksgiving Day Classic when they face Minnesota Crookston (2-1, 0-0 NSIC) who defeated Valley City State today by a score of 63-60 in the early game of the event. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Saturday evening at UW- Superior.