By Kyle Naber, UWEC Sports Information
RIVER FALLS, WIS. (Blugolds.com) - Everything is starting to come together as the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's basketball team defeated the University of Wisconsin-River Falls 78-56 at the Karges Center to earn their fourth straight victory Wednesday night.
Eau Claire had previously fallen to River Falls 78-66 at home on January 18th. This was a big match for the Blugolds coming in as the Falcons were tied with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for first place in the WIAC.
The first half saw River Falls jump out to a quick 7-3 lead capped by a three-pointer. The Blugolds fought back and tied it up at the 13:39 mark at 9-9 after a Jared Schneidermann (Jr.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Concordia Academy) lay-up. That would be the last time the home team would see themselves with an advantage. Eau Claire lead by just seven points at the 8:02 mark of the first half, but went on a 13-0 run thanks to a trio of quick three-pointers and their lead ballooned to 20.
The Blugolds came out right where they left off in the first and continued to maintain their lead throughout the half. However, River Falls had one last run in them to trim down the Eau Claire lead to 13 points after they had lead by as much as 25. Eau Claire responded by going on a 9-0 run to build their lead again. The Blugolds then soared to the finish, earning a huge conference win.
The story of the night was the spark provided off the bench by Chris Duff (So. – Walker, MN/Walker), who had 17 points on 6-7 from the field including 5-6 from beyond the arc.
George Diekelman (So. – Stevens Point, WI/SPASH) also had another solid performance adding 16 points of his own along with nine rebounds. The Blugolds continued to shoot extremely well from the three-point line, shooting 13-23 on the night. Eau Claire was also impressive defensively holding WIAC leading scorer Jon Christiansen, who is averaging 18.8 ppg, to just nine points. (4-15 FG)
The win moves Eau Claire into second place where they are now tied with UW-River Falls. UW-La Crosse moves into soul possession of first place, but will pay Eau Claire a visit in two weeks, Wednesday February 17th, where it is also Shoot for a Cure- Cancer Awareness Night.
The Blugolds return home this Saturday after a two game road trip before hitting the road for two more. Eau Claire will do battle on Alumni Day with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with tip-off set for 5:00 p.m.
