RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The UW-River Falls Men's Basketball team opened up Day 1 of the 2024 Radisson Holiday Classic at Page Arena with an 80-57 victory over St. Scholastica.

The win improved UWRF's record on the season to 5-5 overall and 3-2 at home. The Falcons capitalized off a favorable rebounding advantage, leading on the boards by a margin of 48-31.

In the first half, the Falcons dominated in the paint — UWRF scored 28 points in the paint to just six for St. Scholastica, while holding a 23-15 advantage in team rebounding. Zac Johnson scored 14 first-half points to lead the Falcons to a 37-26 halftime lead.

After the Falcons shot over 50% as a team in the first half, UWRF kept up the strong form on offense with a 17-33 (51.52%) clip in the second half. The final 20 minutes saw the Falcons expand their advantage, out-scoring the Saints 43-31 in the second half. St. Scholastica cut UWRF's lead to single digits (54-46) with 10:19 remaining in regulation, but the Falcons responded with a 22-7 run that put the game out of reach. UWRF controlled the final stages of the game and saw the final buzzer ring on an 80-57 victory.

As a team, UWRF finished 33-63 (52.4%) from the field and limited St. Scholastica to 21-62 (33.9%). In addition to a 48-31 team rebounding advantage, the Falcons scored 54 points in the paint, which set a new season-best for UWRF.

Four Falcons finished with double-figure scoring, led by Johnson with 15. Micah Thompson, Regan Merritt, and Jeremy Wanguhu each scored 10 points. Johnson finished with a team-high 10 rebounds, marking a new career-best and his first-career double-double.  

Next up, the Falcons will host UW-Superior on Day 2 of the Radisson Holiday Classic on Dec. 31. The game is set to tip off at 5 p.m.