Chippewa Valley Times

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's basketball team narrowly missed an upset victory against No. 6 UW-La Crosse, losing 60-55 on Saturday at the Sonnentag Event Center. Despite holding a 10-point lead in the second half, the Blugolds could not withstand a comeback by the Eagles, ending their five-game winning streak in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).

The Blugolds (14-7, 6-4) led by nine points in the first half and extended their advantage to double digits with 14 minutes remaining. However, the Eagles (17-4, 8-2) managed to rally, limiting UW-Eau Claire to just 20 points in the second half.

UW-Eau Claire had outscored UW-La Crosse 15-7 during the final eight minutes of the first half, securing a 35-28 lead at halftime. They maintained this lead until just over ten minutes into the second half when Andre Renta's layup put them ahead by ten points at 43-33 with 14:04 left on the clock. From there, UW-La Crosse initiated a decisive 12-1 run that propelled them into the lead with ten minutes remaining.

The teams exchanged leads for seven minutes until UW-La Crosse took control for good with a layup at the 2:53 mark. This play sparked an 8-2 run that sealed their victory as they held UW-Eau Claire without a field goal in the last three minutes and capitalized on free throws.

Carter Huschka contributed significantly for UW-Eau Claire with his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Andre Renta added another strong performance with 17 points and four rebounds while Cade Hall chipped in eight points and eight rebounds.

Overall shooting percentages saw UW-Eau Claire hit only 42% from the field during their stronger first-half performance but fell to just 26% after halftime resulting in an overall shooting percentage of only about one-third.

Next up for The Blugolds is another challenging WIAC matchup against No.4 ranked team -University Of Wisconsin-Platteville scheduled Wednesday February12th @7 p.m., once again hosted within familiar territory-Sonnentag Event Center