UW-L Overcomes Fourteen Point Deficit to Upset Third-Ranked Augustana

For Immediate Release: Saturday, December 6, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse men's basketball team overcame a 14-point second half deficit and defeated third-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) 61-54 Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, who received votes in last week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 4-2 while the Vikings fall to 4-2.

Augustana led 8-7 with 16:23 remaining in the first half when it went on a 9-0 run to lead 17-7 with 12:56 left. UW-L cut the lead to 23-19 later in the first half, but the Vikings held a 34-25 halftime lead.

The Vikings led 44-30 with 15:27 left after a Brett Wessels lay-up, but the Eagles went on a 19-5 run to force a 49-49 tie with 7:41 remaining. Augustana led 53-49 with just under five minutes left. Justin Bertrand hit the first of two free throws and then scored on a lay-up after missing the second attempt to make it 53-49. The Eagles' Kurt Kincaid hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to one with 4:34 remaining. It was UW-L's last field goal of the game as the team scored its last nine points at the free throw line.

Andrew Haass gave the Eagles their first lead since 5-4 after hitting a pair of free throws with 2:34 remaining. Tony Mane followed with two more free throws with 1:51 left to make it 56-53. Bertrand hit one-of-two free throws with :46 left. After UW-L's Trevor Stratton hit one-of-two at the line with :38 left to put it at 57-54, Augustana had a chance to tie it, but Jordan Delp missed a three-point attempt with :07 remaining. Stratton and Haass each hit a pair of free throws in the final :02 for the final margin.

Stratton led UW-L with a game-high 17 points, hitting five-of-nine (two-of-four from three-point range) from the field and five-of-seven at the line. He also had five rebounds and two steals. Haass scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench while Brandon Brown had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

UW-L shot 35.8% from the field, including 27.8% (five-of-18) from three-point range. The Eagles were 18-of-24 (75.0%) at the line.

Bertrand led Augustana with 12 points and 16 rebounds, including seven offensive. Matt Pelton and Bryan Voiles each scored seven points. The Vikings shot 37.5% from the field, including 20.0% (three-of-15) from three-point range. The team was 15-of-26 (57.7%) at the free throw line, including five-of-11 (45.5%) in the second half.

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, Dec. 10 as it begins WIAC play at seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point.