UW-L Overcomes Second Half Deficit to Record Double Overtime Win

For Immediate Release: Friday, December 28, 2007

Springfield, Ohio – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team overcame a nine-point second half deficit to earn an 83-81 double overtime victory over Marian College (Ind.) Friday night at the Wittenberg University Zimmerman Classic. The Eagles improve to 6-4 and will play in the championship game Saturday, December 29 at 6:45 p.m. (Central Time) against host Wittenberg, who defeated Olivet College (Mich.) 71-58 Friday night.

The game was tied 4-4 with 17:46 left in the opening half when Marian went on a 10-0 run to lead 14-4 with 14:36 remaining. UW-L tied the game at 24-24 with 7:38 left in the first half and later led 32-26 before the Knights forced a 34-34 halftime tie.

Marian, which fell to 6-6 on the season, scored the first nine points of the second half to lead 43-34, but UW-L came back and went on a 10-1 run to tie the contest at 44-44 with 13:15 left. The Knights later led by nine at 59-50 with 9:08 remaining and 63-54 with 7:11 left. Tyler Kleinschmidt hit a pair of free throws for Marian to give it a seven-point lead with 4:34 left, but UW-L ended regulation play with a 10-3 run. After Brandon Buscher hit two free throws for the Knights and a 71-67 lead with 1:18 remaining, Tony Mane hit a jumper for the Eagles to cut it to two with 1:00 left. After a missed jumper from Marian, Mane hit the game-tying layup with :19 left. Jordan Tucker's three-pointer with :01 was missed the game went into overtime.

UW-L led by four points in the first overtime and later led 77-74 with :14 left as Mane hit one-of-two free throws, but Marian's Derek James hit a game-tying three-pointer with :06 left to force a second overtime.

In the second extra session, the Knights led 81-79 with 1:07 left before Mane tied it on a layup with :53 remaining. After James missed a jumper for Marian and two UW-L timeouts, Derek Wilcox hit the game-winning jumper with :02 left to give the Eagles 83-81 lead and James' three-pointer at the buzzer was missed.

It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Three players set career-highs in scoring for UW-L Friday night. Mane had a game-high 27 points, finishing 12-of-24 from the field, including two-of-six from three-point range. He was also one-of-two at the line and added eight rebounds and four assists. Austin Scott had a career-high 16 points for the Eagles, going six-of-eight from the field, including four-of-five from three-point range. Andrew Haas finished with a career-high 10 points and career-high nine rebounds. He was four-of-five from the field and hit both of his free throw attempts.

UW-L shot 54.0% from the field for the game, including 41.2% (seven-of-17) from three-point range. The team was eight-of-12 (66.7%) at the free throw line and outrebounded Marian, 45-23.

Kleinschmidt led Marian with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Tucker finished with 19 points. Buscher added 11 points and James 10. The Knights shot 41.7% from the field, including 36.0% (nine-of-25) from three-point range. Marian was 22-of-30 (73.3%) at the line.

UW-L will play Wittenberg University in the tournament championship game Saturday, December 29 at 6:45 p.m. (Central Time).