UW-L Falls at Wittenberg in Tournament Championship Game

For Immediate Release: Saturday, December 29, 2007

Springfield, Ohio – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 54-50 at Wittenberg University Saturday night in the championship game of the Zimmerman Classic played at the HPER Center Arena. The Eagles fall to 6-5 on the season while the Tigers improve to 5-5 with their fourth straight win.

Wittenberg led by as many as seven points in the first half at 23-16 with 3:21 remaining before UW-L ended the half on a 9-4 run to cut the halftime deficit to 27-25.

The contest was tied 36-36 with 13:03 left when the Tigers went on a 6-0 run. Wittenberg would never trail again. UW-L later cut the lead to 49-48 with 3:35 remaining on a Tony Mane layup before the teams went scoreless for nearly the next three minutes. The Tigers and Eagles both missed four field goal attempts in the scoreless stretch before Brandan Barabino gave Wittenberg a 51-48 lead on a layup with :43 left. Mane scored on another layup with :21 remaining to make it a one-point game and with :14 left, Gregg Hill hit one-of-two free throws to give Wittenberg a 52-50 lead.

Barabino got the offensive rebound on Hill's second free throw, but his jumper was blocked by UW-L's Dan Back. Wittenberg then grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with :09 remaining. David Nowicki hit two free throws to give the Tigers a 54-50 lead and Austin Scott's three-pointer was missed by UW-L on the final possession of the game.

Mane led UW-L with 19 points, finishing seven-of-18 from the field, including three-of-eight from three-point range. He was two-of-two at the free throw line and added seven rebounds and four assists. Scott totaled eight points on three-of-11 shooting, including two-of-nine from three-point range. Mane and Scott were both named to the Zimmerman Classic All-Tournament Team.

Matt DeMars also finished with eight points for the Eagles while Back had five points and seven rebounds. UW-L shot 33.9% from the field, including 25.9% (seven-of-17) from three-point range. The Eagles were three-of-four (75.0%) at the free throw line.

Barabino led Wittenberg with 14 points while Kevin Murray added 12 and Hill 11. The Tigers shot 37.7% from the field, including 20.0% (three-of-15) from three-point range. The team was 11-of-18 (61.1%) at the line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 5 at UW-Superior at 5 p.m.