EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team used two runs of 14-4 and 12-4 to overpower Finlandia University in a 85-73 victory at Zorn Arena tonight.

Winning eight of their last 10 games, the Blugolds are now 8-4 on the season while Finlandia drops to 6-9. Eau Claire faced Finlandia two other times this season and won both games.

The Blugolds never trailed the entire way, though Finlandia held Eau Claire in-check halfway through the first period. Eau Claire scored first tonight on a Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) layup, but the Blugolds would never get up by more than five points in the first 10 minutes. Finlandia also tied the game up three times in the beginning of the first period. The Blugolds then used a 14-4 run that lasted four minutes to push the score to 30-19. They would never look back and went up by 18 with one minute remaining in the first, their largest lead of the half. Behind 54.8% shooting in the first, Eau Claire took a 14-point lead into halftime.

In the second period, the Blugolds kept a steady lead and never allowed the Lions to get any closer than 12. With just under 10 minutes to go in the game, Eau Claire went on a 12-4 run to increase their lead to 21, the largest lead of the game. Rashann Goodwin (Jr.-Minneapolis, Minn./Holy Angels/Lake Region State, ND) scored the final bucket of the run to make Eau Claire's lead 21 in the Blugolds' 85-73 victory.

The Blugolds shot 55.6% from the field, going 35-for-63, while the Lions shot 42.9% on 24-for-56 shooting. Eau Claire also played tough in the paint, scoring 56 points to Finlandia's 32. The Blugolds were also able to use their bench effectively with 31 points coming from players off the bench.

Five Blugolds reached double digit point totals with Beyer leading the way with 23 points. Ryan Shea (Fr.-Duluth, Minn./East) contributed 13 points while Goodwin added another 12. Colin Boone (So.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) and Jacob Schlub (So.-Catawba, Wis./Phillips) also chipped in 11 points, a career high for Schlub. Leading all scoring tonight was Finlandia's Tucker Thoreson who gave the Lions 31 points.

Geoff Probst (So.-Moose Lake, Minn.) led the Blugolds with seven rebounds while Shea and Beyer both pulled down six. Thoreson grabbed a game-leading 13 rebounds in Finlandia's loss.

Up next, the Blugolds will face UW-Superior at Superior in a game slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday. Eau Claire will then take on UW-Whitewater in a doubleheader this Saturday. The men are set to tip-off at 5 p.m. following the women's game.

Eau Claire-Finlandia Box Score

- KM -