RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The UW-River Falls men's basketball team pulled off an impressive victory over UW-La Crosse 60-58 at Page Arena on Wednesday night. The Eagles came into the game 8-2 in the WIAC, while the Falcons were only 2-8 in conference. The back-and-forth game finished well below both teams average for points, which worked in UWRF's favor as they pulled off a major upset to give them a chance to make the WIAC tournament. With three games remaining, the Falcons and UW-Whitewater are tied at 3-8 in conference play for the sixth and final seed in the WIAC tournament in two weeks. Those two will face each other next Saturday in Whitewater.

The lead changed eight times in the first 12 minutes of the first half, but Matt Keller knocked down a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining to put the Falcons up 13-10 over the Eagles. Austin Heidecker made a layup and Ross Ingersoll made a shot from beyond the arc to stretch the lead to eight points, which was the largest lead of the night by either team. Brendon Manning ended the 9-0 run with just under five minutes remaining in the half, but the Eagles had been held scoreless for almost six minutes when they ended their drought. Jalen Greenlee responded with a jumper for UWRF, but UW-La Crosse went on an 8-0 run within a minute to tie the game back up at 20-20. The Eagles made seven of their last eight shots in the half to enter the break up 28-23. Ben Meinholz had 10 points on 5-10 shooting in the first half, while the Falcons were only 32 percent from the field.

The Falcons came out strong in the second half and tied the game at 32-32 within three minutes. UWRF shot 7-9 to start the half and had five different players score to go up 41-36 after a jumper from Keller with 14 minutes remaining. The Eagles went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the half and re-took the lead off of a no-look pass from Wyatt Cook that set up Josh Dahlke for a layup. Zac Haese made two consecutive 3-pointers to go up 50-44, which was the Eagles' largest lead of the night. 

Heidecker made five free throws over the next two minutes to cut the lead to one point, and Greenlee made a fast break layup on a dish from Jack Stensgard to go up 51-50. Ingersoll finished a monster put-back dunk to go up three with five minutes remaining, but Dahlke and Meinholz both finished at the rim to go back up 54-53. Manning scored in the paint to take a 56-54 lead with two minutes remaining, but the Eagles didn't make another shot the rest of the way. 

Keller hit a huge corner-3 to go back up 57-56 with 1:35 remaining, and Heidecker dove on the ground for a loose ball that forced UWRF to take a timeout with 44 seconds remaining. The ball was placed under the basket instead of on the sideline, which led to some confusion from the UWRF players and coaches. The confusion seemed to work in their favor as Clay Seifert found Julian Jackson under the basket for a two-handed slam that gave them a three-point lead. Stensgard made one of his two free throws down the stretch, and Meinholz made it a two-point game when he knocked down his pair of free throws. 

The Eagles pressed and were able to come up with the ball, but Meinholz committed a turnover to give it back to UWRF. Seifert gave the ball back after moving before inbounding the ball, which gave the Eagles another chance. They had three shots to tie the game before the buzzer, but Heidecker came down with the final rebound to give the Falcons their third WIAC win. 

The Falcons shot 48 percent from the field in the second half and made 10 of their 14 free throws. Heidecker led the team with 14 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the year. Jackson had 12 points and Keller added 10, while the Falcons had a 14-4 advantage on second chance points.

UWRF will continue their hunt for a WIAC playoff spot when they host UW-Platteville at 5 p.m. on Saturday for Senior Day at Page Arena.