EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's basketball team defeated UW-Eau Claire 75-73 Wednesday evening on a last-second field goal from
Bryce Phillips.
With the game tied at 73-73 with six seconds remaining in regulation, UWRF senior point guard
Bryce Phillips took an inbound pass after a timeout court-to-court and drove in for the game-winning layup, giving the Falcons a comeback road victory and a season sweep over the Blugolds.
Despite earning a seven-point lead at 12-5 four and a half minutes in, the home team answered on a 16-6 run to lead 21-16 at the midway point of the first half. UWRF tied the game at 23-23 with eight minutes left but the home team closed out the half outscoring the Falcons 22-11 in the final eight minutes and led 45-34 at halftime.
UWEC limited UWRF to under 40 percent shooting in the first half while the home team shot over 60 percent from the floor.
The Falcons responded in the second half, outscoring the Blugolds 21-10 in the opening nine minutes to cut the UWEC lead to 58-56 after a
Terence Anthony-Larmouth free throw. Soon after, a
Rodrick Payne layup tied the game at 58-58 and then a
Noah Hanson layup gave UWRF its first lead since early in the game, leading 63-61 with 7:22 left in the game.
From then on, the Blugolds tied up the game three times, but the Falcons never gave back the lead.
UWEC drew a Falcon foul with six seconds remaining in regulation and sank both, knotting the game at 73-73, before Phillips' heroics on the ensuing possession.
On the night, UWRF compiled a season-high 11 steals, led by three each from
Jake Reeck and Phillips. Four of five Falcons starters scored in double figures, led by 15 from Hanson.
With the win, the Falcons' overall record improves to 10-8 overall and 3-6 in the WIAC. River Falls travels to face UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Feb. 5.
