EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team showed no rust after 16 days off as they jumped out to a big halftime lead and never looked back in a 65-41 victory over Northland College at the 45th annual Holiday Classic in Zorn Arena tonight.
Box Score | Holiday Classic Website
After an Adam Hjelter (So.-Hutchinson, Minn.) 3-pointer with 11:27 left to play in the first half, the Blugolds held a 21-6 advantage over the visiting LumberJacks. The lead would never dip below 13 after that basket.
Eau Claire took a commanding 45-20 lead into the halftime locker room and therefore had the ability to give a lot of players minutes for much of the second half.
All 17 Blugolds saw at least three minutes of action in the contest. Eleven of the 17 scored, led individually by Jacob Kohner's (So.-Bloomington, Minn./John F. Kennedy) 13 points and Hjelter's 12, respectively. Hjelter also had a game-high 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Eau Claire shot 52 percent from the floor on 26-of-50 shooting while holding Northland to just 27.7 percent on 13-of-47 shooting. The Blugolds had a 46-19 rebounding advantage.
Eau Claire is now 6-5 on the season while Northland drops to 2-6.
The Blugolds will be right back in action tomorrow against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) in the final game of the Holiday Classic. UW-River Falls knocked off the Eagles 79-75 earlier Monday night.
River Falls and Northland tip off at 5 p.m. tomorrow followed immediately after by Eau Claire and Northwestern at 7 p.m. in Zorn Arena.
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