RIVER FALLS, Wis. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's basketball team fell to UW-River Falls 86-83 in double overtime on Wednesday. Forty-five minutes of action couldn't separate the two teams, but the Falcons outscored the Blugolds 11-8 in the second overtime to clinch a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) victory at Page Arena.
Carter Huschka (Sr. - Farmington, Minn.) made a free throw with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 67 and force overtime. He then made a basket in the waning seconds of the first overtime period to tie things up at 75 and force double overtime. However, the Falcons opened the second overtime with a 5-0 run and were able to hold on from there. The Blugolds (7-7, 0-3) had a chance to force triple overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the attempt missed.
The defeat spoiled a career night from
Drew Maloney (Jr. - St. Charles, Minn.). The 6-foot-4 guard posted new career highs with 19 points and 13 rebounds to earn the first double-double of his collegiate career. Huschka had a team-high 20 points and also added eight rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Gunnar Tebon (Sr. - Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) added 19 points and five rebounds for the Blugolds.
The Blugolds held a one-point lead at halftime after leading by as much as eight earlier in the period. A strong stretch of play just past the midway point of the second half put UW-Eau Claire ahead by 10 at 56-46 with 6:27. The Blugolds led by seven with under one minute left, but the Falcons (8-6, 2-1) used an 8-0 in a 48-second span to get ahead by one. Huschka got to the free throw line with less than a second left though, and sent the game to overtime.
A 3-pointer and a free throw put UW-River Falls ahead 74-73 with 1:58 left in overtime, but Huschka made a layup in the paint with about 10 seconds remaining to tie the game. The Falcons missed a shot at the buzzer to send the game to another overtime.
A layup and a 3-pointer in the first two and a half minutes of double overtime gave UW-River Falls an 80-75 advantage, and the Blugolds couldn't recover. A jumper by Tebon whittled the deficit down to 84-83 with 19 seconds left, but the Falcons held on.
UW-Eau Claire shot 45% collectively but were hampered by a 50% mark at the free throw line. Defensively, the Blugolds forced the Falcons into 16 turnovers and earned eight steals.
The Blugolds will look to respond when they host UW-Stevens Point in another WIAC contest on Saturday, January 13. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. at Zorn Arena.
