La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 70-54 victory over Central College (Iowa) Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 3-2 on the season while the Dutch drop to 2-1 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. 

UW-L never trailed in Saturday's game, scoring the first 14 points of the game. Central (Iowa) missed its first 10 shots from the field before Nile Eckrmann's layup with 13:47 remaining in the first half. The Dutch used a 13-3 run to cut the lead to 17-13 with 10:31 left. 

The Eagles then went on a 15-4 run to lead 32-17 with 2:23 remaining as Trent Schmidt scored six points in the run.  UW-L led 34-22 at halftime. 

Central (Iowa) cut the lead to 34-24 on a Colby Taylor jumper early in the second half, but UW-L scored the next nine points to lead 43-24 with 16:11 remaining. The Dutch later cut the lead to 49-39 with 10:34 left, but could get no closer the rest of the game as the Eagles went on an 10-0 run to lead 59-39. 

UW-L shot 41.3% from the field, including 26.9% (seven-of-26) from three-point range, and 91.7% (11-of-12) at the free throw line. 

Cale Zuiker recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and career-high 13 rebounds. Jared Staege finished with 11 points off the bench while Schmidt added 10 points. 

Central (Iowa) shot 34.5% from the field, including 16.0% (four-of-25) from three-point range, and 76.9% (10-of-13) at the line. 

Taylor led the Dutch with 22 points and 14 rebounds.  Kyle Smith finished with eight points while Ryan Kunkel and Aaron Rosenstiel scored seven points each. 

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, December 3 hosting UW-Platteville at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams.