LA CROSSE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team defeated UW-La Crosse 72-51 at Mitchell Hall today.

While the game was close for the first few minutes, the Blugolds were able to take control just over six minutes in and never looked back. Eau Claire gave up just 18 points in the first half, only six over the last 14 minutes of the period, and built a 20-point lead at half time.

The Blugolds and Eagles exchanged baskets throughout most of the second half, and the closest La Crosse was able to get the rest of the way was 18 points. The Blugolds reached their largest lead of the night, 29 points, with two and a half minutes left to play.

Eau Claire dominated down low, pulling down 40 rebounds, including 15 offensive boards, to La Crosse's 20. The Blugolds shot 49.1 percent (28-for-57) and La Crosse finished 20-for-48 (41.7 percent) from the floor.

Three Blugolds reached double-digits in scoring with Geoff Probst (Sr.-Moose Lake, Minn.) leading the way with 14 points. Amadou Fofana (Jr.-Appleton, Wis./West) added 12 points and Josh Prince (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chi-Hi) had 10. Probst also led the Blugolds with seven rebounds.

Eau Claire improves to 11-6 overall and 4-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while La Crosse drops to 13-5 on the season and 5-4 in WIAC play. La Crosse received votes in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

The Blugolds will be at home Wednesday to face UW-Oshkosh. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.