La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 76-61 victory over UW-Oshkosh Wednesday night in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament First Round.  The Eagles improve to 17-9 on the season and will play at second-ranked UW-Whitewater Friday, February 28 in the tournament semifinals.  UW-Oshkosh ends its season at 12-14.

UW-L, the tournament's third-seed, never trailed in Wednesday's game.  The contest was tied 4-4 when the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to lead 14-4 with 11:07 left.  Luke Tweed and Braden Tice each hit a three-point field goal in the run.  UW-Oshkosh, the tournament's sixth-seed, used a 8-2 run to cut its deficit to 16-12 with 7:48 remaining in the opening half.  The Titans trailed 18-15 with 6:38 left when the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to lead 28-17 as Calahan Skogman and Skylar Cameron each made a three-point field goal.

UW-L took its largest lead of the first half at 33-20 with 1:08 left on Cameron's second three-point field goal of the half.  UW-Oshkosh's Dylan Wurtz cut the lead 33-23 with :07 left on a three-point field goal, but Ryan Kruser hit a three-point field goal from halfcourt to give UW-L a 36-23 halftime advantage.

The Eagles led 45-27 with 17:05 left in the game when the Titans went on a 11-0 run to cut the lead to 45-38 with 13:54 remaining.  UW-L responded with a 13-2 run to lead 58-40 with 11:16 left with Cameron hitting a pair of three-point field goals. 

UW-L took its largest lead of the game at 62-42 with 9:53 left on a Skogman layup before UW-Oshkosh used a 10-2 run to make it 64-52 with 6:53 remaining.  The Titans cut the lead to 10 points twice in the last 5:00 of the game, including 69-59 with 3:32 left, but could get no closer. 

UW-L shot 46.3% from the field, including 45.5% (10-of-22) from three-point range, and 80.0% (16-of-20) at the free throw line. 

Skogman led the Eagles with 23 ponts while Cameron finished with a career-high 14 points.  Skogman was seven-of-13 from the field and eight-of-eight at the line.  Cameron was four-of-five from three-point range. 

Tice finished with 13 points while Lucas Collom had 11.  Collom finished with a WIAC Tournament record 19 rebounds Wednesday, breaking the record of 17 held UW-Platteville's Jeff Skemp versus UW-Eau Claire in 2008. 

UW-Oshkosh shot 37.0% from the field, including 33.3% (seven-of-21) from three-point range, and 73.7% (14-of-19) at the line. 

Alex Olson led the Titans with a career-high 31 points, going 11-of-18 from the field, including three-of-five from three-point range.  He was six-of-seven at the free throw line.  Wurtz finished with 11 points. 

UW-L returns to action Friday, February 28 at second-seeded and second-ranked UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Tournament Semifinals at 7 p.m.