UW-L Falls in Overtime at Fourth-Ranked St. Thomas

For Immediate Release: Saturday, December 20, 2008

St. Paul, Minn. – The UW-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 94-87 in overtime at fourth-ranked the University of St. Thomas Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fall to 4-5 on the season while the Tommies improve to 8-0.

The game was tied five times in the first half, including 24-24 with 7:38 left when UW-L scored the next eight points to lead 32-24. Trevor Stratton scored five points in the Eagles' run. UW-L led 41-38 at halftime.

St. Thomas came out in the second half and went on a 17-9 run to lead 55-50 with 15:21 remaining. The Tommies led by as many as eight points in the second half at 68-60 with 8:52 left, but the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to force a tie with just under seven minutes remaining. After Kurt Kincaid tied the game at 72-72 with 4:14 left on a jumper for UW-L, Tyler Nicolai hit a three-pointer for St. Thomas to give the Tommies a three-point lead. Stratton hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to one and after a St. Thomas missed jumper, the Eagles' Brandon Brown tied the game at 75-75 with 1:37 remaining after going one-of-two at the line.

Nicolai gave St. Thomas a lead on a jumper with 1:22 left, but Brown tied it on a jumper with :44 remaining. B.J. Viau hit two free throws for St. Thomas to make it 79-77 with :27 left, but UW-L forced overtime as Andy Merklein scored on a rebound basket after a Brown missed jumper with :00.1 remaining.

The Tommies never trailed in the overtime, going on a 6-1 run to start the extra session. UW-L cut the lead to 85-82 with 1:47 left on a Jordan Rumpel jumper, but St. Thomas made all six of its free throw attempts in the final 1:30 to earn the win.

Tony Mane led UW-L with 24 points and six assists. He finished six-of-14 from the field, including four-of-nine from three-point range. Mane hit all eight of his free throw attempts. Stratton had 20 points, going seven-of-nine from the field, including four-of-four from three-point range. He was two-of-two at the line. Merklein totaled 12, finishing four-of-six from the field and at the line. Brown and Kincaid each had nine points. Brown also had a team-high six rebounds.

UW-L shot 53.6% from the field, including 52.6% (10-of-19) from three-point range. The Eagles were 17-of-22 (77.3%) at the line.

Nicolai led four St. Thomas players in double figures with 22 pionts. He was nine-of-12 from the field, including four-of-seven from three-point range. Lonnie Robinson totaled 14 points while Joe Scott had 13 and Viau 12.

St. Thomas shot 52.5% from the field, including 42.9% (nine-of-21) from three-point range. The Tommies were 23-of-30 (76.7%) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Monday, December 29 hosting Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) at 5 p.m. in Mitchell Hall.