La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 7-6 on the season with its fourth straight win Thursday night with a 83-78 non-conference victory over Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) in Mitchell Hall. The Gusties fall to 6-3 on the season. 

The game was tied eight times in the first half and had seven lead changes. Gustavus Adolphus went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-13 lead with 10:58 remaining in the first half after a Seth Anderson jumper. UW-L then used a 8-0 run to cut the lead to one with 7:51 left, but the Gusties quickly retook a 26-21 advantage. The Eagles forced a 30-30 tie and led 43-41 at halftime as Cory Degner scored on a layup with :01 remaining. 

The contest was tied 48-48 with 17:02 remaining and Gustavus Adolphus later led 61-55 with 10:03 left. UW-L scored the next nine points to lead 64-61. The Gusties led 66-64 after a Phil Wirtjes' three-pointer with 5:50 left, but the Eagles' Jeff Heiden gave UW-L a 69-68 lead with 3:49 remaining after a jumper. Bobby Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 2:36 left to give Gustavus Adolphus a 70-69 advantage. Johnson later hit a layup with 1:54 remaining and three-point lead, but UW-L's Lucas Morrissey tied the game on a three-pointer with :59 left. 

Johnson scored on a layup with :43 left for a two-point Gusties' lead and the Eagles' Tony Mane forced overtime with a jumper with :27 left. Gustavus Adolphus did not call timeout and Dan Schmidtknecht missed a potential game-winning three-pointer with :03 left. 

Gustavus Adolphus opened the overtime with a two-point lead as Johnson scored on a layup, but the Gusties would not convert a field goal the rest of the game. Schmidtknecht hit one-of-two at the line with 4:02 left to give Gustavus Adolphus a 77-74 lead, but Heiden tied it with a three-pointer with 3:27 left. Degner then hit back-to-back shots for a 81-77 advantage with 2:29 left. 

The Gusties cut the lead to 81-78 with 2:13 left after Johnson hit one-of-two free throws. Gustavus Adolphus had a chance to tie the game after calling a timeout with :11 left, but Johnson missed a three-pointer and Morrissey finished the scoring with a pair of free throws with :01 remaining.

Mane led UW-L with 28 points while Degner finished with 16, Morrissey 14 and Heiden 10. Degner also had eight assists. Jordan Rumpel finished with a team-high eight rebounds. 

UW-L shot 46.2% from the field, including 44.8% (13-of-29) from three-point range, and 62.5% (10-of-16) at the line.

Johnson led Gustavus Adolphus with 18 points while Reed Sallstrom had 13. Wirtjes added 12 points and five assists while James Hill finished with 10 points. Sallstrom and Anderson each had eight rebounds. 

The Gusties shot 49.2% from the field, including 26.7% (four-of-15) from three-point range, and 66.7% (10-of-15) at the line.

UW-L returns to WIAC action Wednesday, January 5 hosting UW-Superior at 5:05 p.m.