Eau Claire, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) – In a tough road environment, the UW-River Falls men's basketball team battled back from 15 points down, but ultimately fell to UW-Eau Claire 83-80 after a failed three pointer at the buzzer that would of sent the game to overtime.

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 80, UW-Eau Claire 83
Location: Zorn Arena, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Record: UWRF: 21-3 (11-2 WIAC), UW-Eau Claire 18-6 (8-5 WIAC)
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• The Falcons used seven second half three pointers to chip away at the Blugold lead, but UW-Eau Claire held off the Falcons for the win.
• The Falcons led only once in the contest, and that was early on with a 5-4 advantage at the 16:35 mark.
• The Blugolds used a barrage of three pointers in the first half to establish their lead. UWEC had back-to-back three pointers in two separate instances in the first seven minutes. The Blugolds held an 18-11 advantage with 13:19 to go in the first half.  
• The Falcons tried to keep pace with the host Blugolds, but three pointers kept giving the Blugolds separation. After coming within four, the Blugolds brought their lead up to 10.  
• The largest lead of the game came with 3:57 to go in the first half when UWEC capped off an 8-1 run, capped off by a George Diekelman jumper.
• Alex Herink and Devin Buckley helped the Falcons cut the lead to just 10 by scoring on the final two possessions of the first half to trail 41-31. Pearson had scored 14 points in the first half to lead all scorers.
• UWRF battled early in the second half, doing everything they could to slowly chip away at the lead. The Falcons scored five straight points and brought the score to 46-41 with 15:38 to go in the game.
• An and-one put momentum back on the Blugolds side on the next possession, but UWRF kept chipping away brining the score within three points with 12:59 to go on a layup by Pearson.
• A 9-0 run brought the lead back to 12 points with 9:33 to go in the game, but the Falcons countered with a 9-0 run of their own, with all the nine points coming from Herink and Brennan Witt.
• The score came within one point with 3:13 to go after Pearson connected on another jumper, but UWEC scored seven of nine points to put the game seemingly out of reach with 1:07 to go.
• Buckley and Herink hit two clutch three pointers in the final minute to give the Falcons a chance at the buzzer, but a full court dribble up and shoot by Grant Erickson did not fall and the Falcons dropped their second WIAC game of the season.

 
IN-DEPTH LOOK

• Pearson scored 25 points in the loss on 10-17 shooting. He connected on three of his four attempts from the three point line, and added seven rebounds.  
• Herink finished the game with 23 points on 8-17 shooting, he himself had four shots from beyond the arc, and came down with six rebounds.
• Buckley was the last Falcon in double figures with 10 points on 4-5 shooting.  
• As a team, UWRF was 30-64 (46.9 percent) from the floor while shooting 10-20 from the three point line.  

THE OPPOSITION

• The Blugolds continued their balanced offensive attack with five players scoring in double-figures in the game. Josh Weix was the leader with 16 points and eight rebounds.
• Chris Duff scored 15 points, while Jack Martinek, Jared Schneidermann, and Diekelman each had 12 points.  
• From the floor, the Blugolds shot 30-66 (45.5 percent) and made eight of their 24 three pointers.
• The Blugolds outrebounded the Falcons 46-29 in the game, with 17 of their rebounds coming on the offensive glass.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
UW-River Falls will have one last road test before the WIAC tournament. The Falcons will travel to Bo Ryan Court to take on the Pioneers of UW-Platteville on February 18 at 7 p.m. The Falcons then have a bye in the first round of the WIAC tournament before taking on the lowest remaining seed after the first round of the WIAC tournament.