La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 74-63 victory over 24th-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) Tuesday night in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 6-3 on the season while the Vikings drop to 7-3. 

The game featured seven ties in the first half, including 15-15 when Augustana's (Ill.) scored on a jumper and three-point field goal to take a 20-15 advantage with 6:10 left.  UWL came back to force a 26-26 tie with 3:18 remaining after a Sean Wheeler three-pointer.  A Ben Meinholz three-point field goal and Brendon Manning layup finished the scoring in the first half to give UWL a 35-30 lead. 

Augustana (Ill.) opened the second half on a 8-2 run to lead 38-37, including a pair of Dylan Sortillo three-point field goals, but UWL used a 13-2 run to lead 50-40 with 13:31 left on a Ryan Kruser three-point field goal.  The Vikings cut the margin to 50-42 on a pair of Jacob Johnston free throws, but the Eagles scored the next eight points to take their largest lead of the game at 58-42 with 10:32 remaining.  UWL led 60-45 with 10:04 remaining on a Zach Schradle layup before Augustana (Ill.) scored 10 straight points to cut the lead to 60-55 with 6:01 left. Chrishawn Orange had five points in the run. 

The Vikings would get no closer the rest of the game as the Eagles scored 12 of their final 14 points at the free throw line in the final 5:31.

UWL shot 38.0% from the field, including 57.1% (eight-of-14) from three-point range, and 75.7% (28-of-37) at the free throw line.  Meinholz led four starters in double figures with 15 points while Kruser and Schradle each finished with 14.  Kruser set a career-high with his 14 points Tuesday while Schradle finished with a game-high 12 rebounds to record his third double-double in the last four games.  Kenny Finco finished with a season-high 12 points. 

Augustana (Ill.), ranked 24th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, shot 43.4% from the field, including 31.3% (five-of-16) from three-point range, and 70.6% (12-of-17) at the line.  Johnston led three players in double figures for the Vikings with 16 points while also finishing with a team-high six rebounds.  Sortillo had 15 points Tuesday while Orange finished with 11. 

UWL returns to action Thursday, December 22 at Northland College (Wis.) at 5:30 p.m.