River Falls, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) – The UW-River Fall Men's Basketball team battles back from early deficit to beat the UW-La Crosse Eagles 77-74 in a thrilling game that would need overtime.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 77, UW-Lacrosse: 74 OT
Location: Page Arena, River Falls, Wisconsin
Record: UW-River Falls: 15-5, 5-4 WIAC, UW-La Crosse  15-5, 5-4 WIAC
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• A tightly contested game early on had the Falcons up at the first media timeout 9-7. Brennan Witt got off to a hot start scoring 4 of the Falcon's first 9 points.
• The Eagles continued to trade baskets with the Falcons eventually taking the lead 21-17 at the midway point of the first half.
• The Eagles would add to their lead with the help of two baskets from beyond the arc from Tanner Bruchs, leading 28-19 following the third media timeout.
• The first half came to a close and the Falcons struggled to find their offense as the Eagles increased their lead to 17 points with a halftime score of 38-21.
• Ben Meinholz and Tanner Bruchs led the way with 8 points a piece for the Eagles in the first half. The Falcon's Alex Hernik tallied 5 points to lead the Falcons in first half points.
• In the second half, the Falcons would come out with a bit more intensity as they would cut the lead to 11 following a 3-point basket from Alex Herink. Falcons trailed, 41-30 at 15:26 left in the half.
• The Falcons would continue to close the gap and get the crowd back into the game with a pair of makes from downtown from Ross Ingersoll and Alex Herink. Falcons trailed 43-39 at 12:46 of the second half.
• The Eagles would weather the storm and answer with a barrage of their own, making a basket on four straight possessions and increasing their lead to 62-48 with 6:45 left in the game.
• The Falcons would battle back to get the game within 4 after a made 3 pointer by Isaac Castellano with 1:21 remaining in the game.
• The Falcons would tie the game at 67 on a beautiful backdoor cut from Clay Seifert with :22 seconds left in the game. The game would remain 67-67 as time expired and the game would head to overtime.
• The overtime would be tightly contested. Both the Falcons and Eagles would trade baskets in the overtime period, with the Falcons prevailing, 77-74 over the Eagles.

 
IN-DEPTH LOOK

• Clay Seifert was the leading scorer for the Falcons with 20 points. Seifert was 7-10 from the floor and 2-4 from beyond the arc. He also added 4 points from the line.
• Brennan Witt scored 19 points and Alex Herink added 17 to help contribute to the thrilling Falcon win.
• The Falcons were 23-48 from the floor (47.9 percent) and 8-18 from 3. (44.4 percent)

 
THE OPPOSITION

• Tanner Bruchs led the way for the Eagles with 14 points and was 4-5 from beyond the arch.
• Sam Skoyen added 12 points for the eagles as he was 5-11 from the field.
• The Eagles shot 28-61 (45.9 percent) from the floor and were 11-20 (55.0 percent) from the 3 point line.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Falcons travel to UW-Stevens Point this Saturday, Feb. 3 in a 7 p.m. WIAC matchup.  The Falcons currently sit 15-5 overall and 5-4 in WIAC play.