La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 88-83 victory over seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks drop to 14-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference.  

UW-Whitewater, ranked seventh on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, had its nine-game winning streak snapped.  The Warhawks also had their five-game winning streak over the Eagles snapped.

The game was tied 11-11 in the first half when UW-Whitewater scored five straight points to lead 16-11 with 12:22 left, but UW-L went on a 16-8 run to lead 27-24 with 6:30 remaining.  The Warhawks tied the game at 27-27 on a Eric Bryson three-point field goal, but the Eagles' Calahan Skogman and Braden Tice hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it 33-27. 

Steve Egan cut the lead to 33-30 for UW-Whitewater, but Tice hit a pair of free throws and a Cale Zuiker scored on a layup to give UW-L a 37-30 advantage with 1:56 left.  Egan converted a three-point play and Patrick Souter made two free throws to cut the lead to 37-35 with 1:37 remaining before Trent Schmidt and Tice hit three-point field goals to give UW-L a 43-37 halftime advantage. 

UW-Whitewater cut the lead to 43-41, but Skogman and Tice hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 49-41 lead. UW-L led 62-56 with 11:31 left when it scored six straight points to take its largest lead of the game at 68-56 with 9:57 remaining. 

The Warhawks cut the deficit to 73-67 with 5:59 left, but Schmidt scored five straight points to lead 78-67. The Eagles led 80-70 with 2:24 remaining when the Warhawks went on a 11-4 run to trail 84-81 with :37 left.  Schmidt converted a pair of free throws with :21 remaining for a 86-81 lead, but KJ Evans cut the lead back to three with a layup with :08 left.  After a timeout, Clint Rihn was fouled and made both free throws with :06 remaining for the final margin.

UW-L shot 55.8% from the field, including 62.5% (15-of-24) from three-point range, and 71.4% (15-of-21) at the free throw line.  The 15 three-point field goals is a season-high.  It is tied for fourth in single-game school history.  UW-L made 19 three-point field goals versus UW-Stout December 8, 2010.   

The Eagles were seven-of-10 (70.0%) from three-point range in the second half Wednesday night. 

Skogman led UW-L with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Schmidt finished with a career-high 20 points.  Tice and Lucas Collom each finished with 16 points.  Rihn had eight points and five assists.  Five different players had at least two three-point field goals. 

UW-Whitewater shot 46.2% from the field, including 31.8% (seven-of-22) from three-point range, and 72.7% (16-of-22) at the line. 

Evan led the Warhawks with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Quardell Young finished with 18 points.  Alex Merg had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Bryson finished with 14 points.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 25 hosting number-one ranked UW-Stevens Point at 3 p.m.