EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - While the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team controlled almost the entire game, getting up by as much as 23, the UW-River Falls Falcons made a late comeback but the Blugolds held on to take a 76-73 victory today at Zorn Arena.

The Blugolds, who have lost only one game in Zorn Arena this season, improve to 9-6 overall and 3-4 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Falcons drop to 8-8 on the season and 2-5 in the conference.

In a game where the lead changed four times and was tied twice, the Blugolds did just enough at the end to hold on for the three-point victory. After almost seven minutes of play in the contest, the Blugolds took the lead and never looked back. They built a double-digit lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first and stayed up by more than 10 with eight minutes left on the clock, getting up by as much as 23 at one point.

The Falcons would not go away and battled back into the game. Eau Claire could never get up by more than nine points the remainder of the game and closed the gap to two points three times, all within the last 30 seconds of the contest. The Blugolds were able to stay up with five made free throws in the final 30 seconds and eventually prevailed.

As a team the Blugolds shot 47.1 percent (24-for-51) from the floor but the Falcons came away shooting 49.1 percent (28-for-57). The Blugolds picked up 10 more points at the charity stripe, going 18-for-26 compared to River Falls' 8-for-12.

Ryan Shea (So.-Duluth, Minn./East) led the game with 21 points and pulled down six boards. Three others reached double-figures, with Geoff Probst (Jr.-Moose Lake, Minn.) coming away with 19 points and Colin Boone (Jr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) and Jacob Schlub (Jr.-Catawba, Wis./Phillips) each adding 10. Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) led the team with nine rebounds.

Colin Utke led the way for the Falcons with 18 points while Danny Johnson came up with 13 and Jontae Koonkaew finished with 10. Wade Guerin added nine points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Blugolds will be back in Zorn Arena on Wednesday when they host UW-Stevens Point. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box Score

- KM -