EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - UW-Eau Claire men's basketball coach Terry Gibbons recorded his 200th victory at Eau Claire as the Blugolds won their third game of the season this evening against Finlandia (Mich.) 74-66 in Zorn Arena.

In his 14th season, Gibbons is now 200-149 at Eau Claire. Prior to becoming head coach of the Blugolds, Gibbons spent six seasons as UW-Eau Claire's top assistant and was the head coach at Western State College (CO) for four years.

With the win, the Blugolds improve to 3-2 on the season, and Finlandia falls to 0-6 on the year.

The game began with both teams exchanging small leads for the first 12 minutes. It wasn't until the 6:11 mark in the first that Finlandia grabbed the largest lead of the evening at six points. The Lions would extend its lead to 26-17 with 5:37 left in the half. The Blugolds were able to cut into that lead before heading into halftime with a Jordan Kappen (Jr.-Blair, Wis./Blair-Taylor) layup. Eau Claire headed into the locker room down by just three points, 31-28.

It didn't take long for the Blugolds to regain the lead and keep it that way for the remainder of the contest. Eau Claire made quick work of the three point deficit and took the lead early in the second half with a layup by Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial), giving the Blugolds a 32-31 lead. Taking the lead and running with it, Eau Claire would create a 15 point lead on two different occasions midway through the second half and shut the door on Finlandia's hopes of a comeback.

For the game, the Blugolds shot 48.3 percent from the field and pulled down 40 rebounds, including 14 offensive boards. Eau Claire was successful in its efforts to pound the ball down low, scoring 44 of its 74 points in the paint.

Beyer led Eau Claire with 19 points on eight of 12 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds. Ryan Shea (So.-Duluth, Minn./East) and Colin Boone (Jr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) were the other two Blugolds to reach double-digits, scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively. Jacob Schlub (Jr.-Catawba, Wis./Phillips) recorded a team-high eight rebounds to go along with seven points.

Tyler Gordon paced the Lions with a game-high 33 points and five steals in the losing effort.

The Blugolds hit the hardwood again on Saturday afternoon for its first WIAC game against I-94 rival, UW-Stout. Eau Claire leads the all-time series with a 108-62-1 record, however the Blue Devils have the recent advantage, winning the last seven games. The last time the two teams met the Blue Devils won, 80-69. Tip off is set for 3 p.m. at Zorn Arena.

Eau Claire-Finlandia Box Score

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