UW-L Defeats St. Mary's; Three Players in Double Figures

For Immediate Release: Saturday, November 29, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 3-1 on the season with a 72-61 win over St. Mary's University (Minn.) Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Cardinals fall to 1-3 on the year.

Three players scored in double figures for the Eagles, led by Tony Mane's 17 points. He was four-of-15 from the field, including three-of-seven from three-point range. Mane hit all six of his free throw attempts and added four assists, four steals and two rebounds. Brandon Brown finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was seven-of-13 from the field and one-of-three at the line. Kurt Kincaid was the third player to score in double figures as he finished with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Andy Merklein finished with eight points and eight rebounds for UW-L while Trevor Stratton scored eight points.

St. Mary's led by as many as seven points in the first half at 27-20 with 3:20 remaining before UW-L cut the deficit to 31-28 at intermission.

The contest was tied 49-49 with 9:37 remaining when the Eagles went on an 13-1 run to lead 62-50 with 6:06 left. St. Mary's later cut the lead to 65-59 with 2:27 as Will Wright converted a four-point play, but UW-L made five-of-seven at the free throw line in the final 1:05 to secure the win.

UW-L shot 37.7% from the field, including 47.1% (eight-of-17) from three-point range. The team was five-of-seven (71.4%) from three-point range in the second half. The Eagles finished 12-of-17 (70.6%) at the line.

Wright led St. Mary's with 23 points while Lukas Holland finished with 19 points. Josh Knights had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Brad Knights had eight points. The Cardinals shot 37.9% from the field, including 54.5% (six-of-11) from three-point range. St. Mary's finished 11-of-15 (73.3%) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, December 3 at 17th-ranked Elmhurst College (Ill.) at 7 p.m.