By Kyle Naber, UWEC Sports Information
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Blugolds.com)- The No. 21 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's basketball team is off to their best start since the 1999-00 season where the team started off 10-0. Eau Claire gained their fifth win of the season Friday night after defeating Rhodes College (Tenn.) 120-94 at the 33rd annual Lopata Classic hosted by Washington University (Mo.).
Eau Claire had a tough test coming into the opening game of the tournament, taking on the Lynx who averaged the third most points in the country (114 points). The Blugolds were able to play at the tempo of Rhodes College, but still played solid defense as they held the Lynx under 100 points for the first time this season. In the win the Blugolds scored the third most points in program history as they topped 100 points for the first time since 2007.
Eau Claire was hot out of the gate as Head Coach Matt Siverling had his team ready to play in this one. The Blugolds opened with a 24-6 run, thanks to 10 quick points from Josh Weix (So. – Eau Claire, WI/North). From there, the Lynx would fire back and after fighting hard they were able to trim the Blugold lead back down to seven points. Eau Claire answered the call right after that, rebuilding their lead back up and then some. By the end of the half, the Blugolds extended their lead to a commanding 21-point advantage.
Except for a brief moment in the second half, Eau Claire maintained their 20-point lead throughout the half. The Blugolds really dominated this game from wire to wire.
Eau Claire had a balanced scoring attack with seven Blugolds in double digits. Leading the way once again was Weix, who finished with another impressive night scoring a game-high 24 points. Following Weix, was Chris Duff (Jr. – Walker, MN), Jared Schneidermann (Sr. – Brooklyn Park, MN/Concordia Academy), and Jack Martinek (Sr. – New Brighton, MN/Irondale), who had 17, 17, and 16 points respectively.
George Diekelman (Jr. – Stevens Point, WI/SPASH) narrowly missed a triple double, recording game-highs for assists (nine) and rebounds (eight) to go along with 15 points. Andrew Duxbury (Sr. –Stillwater, MN) tallied 11 points while Sean Miller (Fr. – Waukesha, WI/Kettle Moraine) came off the bench to record 11 points and eight assists.
The Blugolds shot an incredible 72.6 percent from the field (53-73) and were able to hold the usual hot-shooting Lynx to just 38.1 percent (16-42). Eau Claire usually can knock down plenty of three-pointers to give them big leads, however, in this one they only had to shoot seven times from beyond the arc. The Blugolds dismantled the Rhodes full-court press resulting in 42 fast break points while limiting Rhodes to just five fast break points.
The Blugolds also left their mark on the tournament as they set three Lopata Classic records in the win. Eau Claire's 120 points, 41 assists and 53 made field goals broke the marks set in late '90s.
Up next for Eau Claire is the winner of host Washington University and UC-Santa Cruz (Calf.) in the finals of the Lopata Classic. Eau Claire will look to get things rolling early again to continue their hot start. The tournament championship tip off is set for 8 p.m.
Follow all of the action this season on Blugold Game Day.
