La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 65-53 victory over UW-Platteville Thursday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC while the Pioneers drop to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference. Both teams are receiving votes on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll.

UW-L led throughout most of the first half before UW-Platteville took its first lead at 14-13 with 8:26 remaining. The Eagles used a 17-4 run to lead 30-18 with :57 left. Jeff Heiden had three 3-point field goals in the run. He then scored on a layup with :06 left in the half to give UW-L a 32-20 halftime lead. Heiden scored 16 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Pioneers scored the first six points of the second half to cut their deficit to 32-26. The Eagles' Trent Schmidt converted a three-point play to make it 35-26 and Heiden and Schmidt hit back-to-back three-pointers to give UW-L a 41-26 lead with 14:57 left.

UW-L led 54-40 with 6:59 remaining in the game when UW-Platteville used a 9-0 run to cut its deficit to 54-49 with 3:27 left. Schmidt then converted a three-point field goal to give the Eagles a 57-49 advantage. The Pioneers could get no closer than six points the rest of the game at 57-51 with 3:05 left. UW-L finished the game on a 8-2 run, going eight-of-10 at the free throw line.

Heiden led UW-L with a career-high 23 points, finishing seven-of-12 from the field, including five-of-eight from three-point range. He was four-of-six at the line. Schmidt recorded a career-high 17 points for the Eagles, going five-of-11 from the field, including three-of-six from three-point range. He was four-of-five at the line and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Luke Tweed had nine points and a team-leading six rebounds.

UW-L shot 37.5% from the field, including 45.5% (10-of-22) from three-point range. The Eagles shot 68.4% (13-of-19) at the line.

Chas Cross led UW-Platteville with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Rob Stallion scored 10 points. Eric Gerber tallied nine points and Jake Manning finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

UW-Platteville shot 37.8% from the field, including 23.1% (three-of-13) from three-point range. The Pioneers shot 88.9% (16-of-18) at the line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 5 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 3 p.m.