WHITEWATER, Wis. - Despite being down by 23 at one point and closing the gap to just one, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team came up short, falling 96-88 to ninth-ranked UW-Whitewater this afternoon at Kachel Gym at Williams Center.

Eau Claire falls to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Whitewater improves to 13-2 on the season and 5-1 in the conference.

Whitewater dominated the first half and opened with a 9-0 lead before the Blugolds could get a basket. The Warhawks continued to increase their lead throughout the half and got up by 23 points near the end of the half. Whitewater would take an 18 point lead into the half with the score 56-38. For the half, Whitewater shot an impressive 60.5 percent from the floor (23-for-28), while the Blugolds came away with 43.2 percent shooting, going 16-for-37.

The second half started the way the first half ended, with Whitewater continuing to dominate the game, but Eau Claire would not give up easily. After the Warhawks went back up by 21, the Blugolds began a comeback. Midway through the period, Eau Claire used a 16-2 run to close within five with just over six minutes remaining. The Blugolds then continued to stay right with Whitewater and closed the Warhawks' lead to only one. But with less than two minutes to go, Eau Claire would not get over the hump and Whitewater finished the game ahead by eight.

The Blugolds outshot Whitewater 52.8 percent (38-for-72) to 51.6 percent (32-for-62) from the floor. In the second half alone, Eau Claire went 22-for-35 (62.9 percent) while Whitewater shot only 37.5 percent (9-for-24). Eau Claire only had one more turnover than Whitewater (16-15) but the Warhawks capitalized on the turnovers and scored 27 points while the Blugolds only came away with 12. From the free throw line, Whitewater went 25-for-34 (73.5 percent) and Eau Claire went 6-for-7 (85.7 percent).

Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) led the Blugolds with 19 points today while four others reached double-figures. Geoff Probst (Jr.-Moose Lake, Minn.) once again recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ryan Shea (So.-Duluth, Minn./East) also added 16 points for the Blugolds. Colin Boone (Jr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) came away with 15 points and Josh Prince (Fr.-Cadott, Wis./Chippewa Falls) scored 11. Shea had a game-high four steals, while Boone accumulated a team-high five assists.

Myles McKay led the game with 29 points, playing 35 minutes, and also had a game-high six assists. Four others also reached double-digits, while Kori Vernon led the team with eight rebounds.

The Blugolds will be away again on Wednesday when they travel to Oshkosh to face UW-Oshkosh. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-Whitewater Box Score

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