La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 63-44 victory over UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall on Alumni Day. The Eagles improve to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in the WIAC while the Blugolds fall to 8-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for UW-L. 

UW-L raced out to a 7-2 lead, but UW-Eau Claire used a 10-2 run to take a 12-9 lead with 14:24 remaining in the first half. The Eagles then went on a 11-3 run to take a 20-15 advantage. 

UW-L later led 33-27 with 3:53 remaining when it finished the half on a 8-0 run to lead 41-27. 

The Blugolds cut the lead to 41-31 with 15:35 left in the game, but would get no closer the rest of the game. The Eagles went on a 7-0 run to lead 48-31 and UW-L later led by as many as 26 points. 

Tony Mane led UW-L with 18 points while Al Chery finished with 15 points, eight steals and seven rebounds. The eight steals tied a single-game school record. Bob Zenz had eight steals versus Winona State (Minn.) University December 13, 1986 while Willie Arnold had eight versus St. Mary's University (Minn.) November 20, 1987.

UW-L's Jordan Rumpel totaled 10 points and seven rebounds Saturday.

UW-L shot 36.4% from the field, including 23.5% (four-of-17) from three-point range. The team shot 73.3% (11-of-15) at the free throw line. The Eagles had six turnovers and 18 steals in the contest.

Marcus Ruh, Amadou Fofana and Dustin Kalien led UW-Eau Claire with nine points each. Nick Craggs had eight points and seven rebounds while James Pfitzinger finished with a game-high nine rebounds. 

The Blugolds shot 50.0% from the field, including 33.3% (three-of-nine) from three-point range, and 60.0% (three-of-five) at the line. The team finished with 24 turnovers. 

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, January 26 at UW-Stout beginning at 7:05 p.m.