RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's basketball team fell 67-61 to No. 23-ranked UW-La Crosse Wednesday evening at Page Arena.
After a slow start trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, UWRF rallied to cut the UWL lead to four twice but couldn't break the visitors' lead.
The Falcons were led by
Rodrick Payne's career-high 30 points, shooting 11-of-14 from the field.
UWRF held a 30-28 edge in rebounds, led by eight from
Marshall Holland. Both teams shot just under 50 percent from the field while UWRF led 34-28 in the paint.
Down 39-26 at the break, the home team opened the second half 18-9 run, capped off by a
Logan Benson basket to trim the UWL lead to 48-44 just over eight minutes in. The Eagles regained a double-digit advantage minutes later but the Falcons didn't surrender, chipping away to come within four again with a
Rodrick Payne dunk with under a minute left in regulation.
Leading 62-58, La Crosse answered with a made field goal and held on in the final moments for the win.
UWRF, now 8-10 overall and 2-5 during WIAC competition, heads to UW-Whitewater on Saturday.
