WAVERLY, Iowa (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team won the 2009 Buzz Levick/Pizza Ranch Tipoff Tournament by defeating Wartburg College (Iowa) 82-76 at Levick Arena today.

The Blugolds are off to a 3-0 start on the season while Wartburg drops to 1-2. The last time the Blugolds started the season 3-0 was in 2002 when they won their first four before falling.

In today's game, the Blugolds looked to be in control early but let the Knights back in to the game by the second half. Eau Claire hit a three-pointer to start the game and built a 16-point lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half.

Wartburg began to chip away at the Blugolds' lead and cut it to just four at the half after holding Eau Claire scoreless for the final two minutes. Wartburg continued its run in the second half and tied the game up at 33-33 less than a minute in to the period.

The Knights took their first lead of the contest at 18:28 and built it to a six-point margin before the Blugolds battled back. The game would be tied up three more times while the lead changed three more times before the Blugolds took control for good at 12:56. Eau Claire went on to build an 11-point lead late in the second and Wartburg could never come back after that.

Jacob Schlub (Sr.-Catawba, Wis./Phillips), who was named to the All-Tournament team, led the Blugolds with 20 points off the bench, playing just 20 minutes. Nick Bartlett (So.-Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) added 17 points and Colin Boone (Sr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) contributed 15. Boone earned Tournament MVP honors following the conclusion of the tournament.

Leading Eau Claire in rebounds was Geoff Probst (Sr.-Moose Lake, Minn.), who finished with nine.

The Blugolds will be back in action next weekend for the UW-Oshkosh Classic. They will play St. John's University (Minn.) at 5 p.m. Friday and will finish with a 1 p.m. game Saturday against the University of Puget Sound (Wash.).