La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 72-59 victory at city-rival Viterbo University (Wis.) Tuesday night in R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium. The Eagles improve to 2-0 on the season while the V-Hawks drop to 5-2.
UWL, receiving votes on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll, now leads the Alumni Cup series, 18-10, earning its 12th win in the last 13 meetings with Viterbo (Wis.). Zach Schradle finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Eagles scored the first four points of the game on a pair of Zach Schradle free throws and layup. UWL led 6-4 with 14:26 left in the first half when it went on a 6-0 run to lead 12-4. UWL led 17-9 with 10:30 left in the half when Viterbo (Wis.) took its first lead of the game with a 9-0 run to lead 18-17 with 6:34 remaining on a pair of Jared Fleischmann free throws. UWL led 32-29 at halftime.
Viterbo (Wis.) trailed 36-35 with 16:28 left after a Erik Engelstad jumper, but UWL went on a 10-0 run to lead 46-35 with 12:50 remaining. Clint Rihn made a pair of three-point field goals in the run. The V-Hawks cut the deficit to 48-39 with 9:36 left, but the Eagles scored the next six points to lead 54-39 with 7:34 remaining. Viterbo (Wis.) could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the game. Clint Rihn had nine points Tuesday.
UWL shot 42.9% from the field, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 75.0% (24-of-32) at the free throw line. Schradle and Ben Meinholz led the Eagles with 17 points each with Schradle finishing with a team-leading 11 rebounds and four steals. He was four-of-nine from the field and nine-of-10 at the free throw line. Meinholz also had seven rebounds, three steals and team-leading four assists. He finished six-of-11 from the field and five-of-eight at the line. Rihn totaled nine points Tuesday, going three-of-three from three-point range. He also finished with three steals.
Viterbo (Wis.) shot 36.4% from the field, including 27.3% (six-of-22) from three-point range, and 86.7% (13-of-15) at the line. Engelstad led the V-Hawks with 18 points and eight rebounds while Jake Bamke and Austin Poehls finished with 11 points each.
UWL returns to action Friday, November 25 at Webster University (Mo.) at 8 p.m. The Eagles face MacMurray College (Ill.) Satudray, November 26 at 1 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo.