RIVER FALLS, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team advanced to the semi-final round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament after an overtime win over UW-River Falls, 81-79 on Tuesday night.
Box Score |WIAC Championship Website | Video
The Blugolds led by as much as six in the first half, but the Falcons were able to mount a comeback that put them up 40-33 at the half.
George Diekelman (Fr. Stevens Point, WI) was strong off the bench to lead the Blugolds with 11 points at the break.
Eau Claire shot 50 percent (14-for-28) for the field and 44.4 percent (four-for-nine) from the three point line. The Falcons were 13-for-30 (43.3 percent) from the field and five-for-10) from behind the arc.
The Blugolds started the second half with two quick threes by Tyson Kalien (So. Chippewa Falls, WI) to pull within one in a matter of seconds. River Falls had two baskets to start the second half and took a 46-44 lead into the first media timeout of the half.
The teams continued to trade baskets coming out of a River Falls timeout with 5:46 left. The Falcons were able to take a 66-61 advantage with 3:15 to go, but a Lewis Mau (Sr. Colfax, WI) layup brought the Blugolds within three on the next possession causing UWRF to call a timeout with 2:48 to go.
With 1:59 left in the game Kalien knocked a big three to tie the game 67-67 and after another Mau layup with 1:24 remaining, the Blugolds took the lead 69-67. The Falcons responded by knocking down two free throws to tie the game yet again.
Mau struck again with 52 seconds left, putting the Blugolds up 71-69, but more Falcon free throws knotted the score again and would stand until the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
The two teams continued to battle with never separating by more than one score into the start of overtime. With 1:04 on the clock, River Falls knocked down a hook shot in the paint to tie the game up 76-76. But with 33 seconds left, Jack Martinek (So. New Brighton, MN) scored a baseline layup to again take the lead.
River Falls had an opportunity to tie with more free throws, but only hit one to pull within one, 78-77. Mau hit two free throws of his own with 16 seconds left and Kalien added another with 3.7 seconds to seal the 81-79 win.
The Blugolds saw four players hit double digits in points led by Diekelman's 19, a game-high. Kalien finished with 18 while Mau added 16 and Martinek chipped in 12. Diekelman and Jared Schneidermann (So. Brooklyn Park, MN) led the Blugolds with six rebounds each, while Schneidermann also recording four points.
For the game, Eau Claire shot 49.2 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from behind the arc while holding River Falls to 38.8 percent from the field and 37.5 from three.
The Blugolds improve to 11-15 on the season (6-10 WIAC) and will travel to Whitewater to take on the No. 1 seeded Warhawks on Thursday at 7 p.m.
-JM-
