Men's basketball dunks Finlandia
Blugolds win 79-69 in Michigan, jump to 14-9 overall
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 2/16/09 Section: Sports
The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team led by as many as 27 points and shot nearly 39 percent from behind the 3-point arc Saturday afternoon en route to a 79-69 win at Finlandia University (Mich.).
The victory pushes the Blugolds to 14-9 on the season, and keeps the team at 7-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.Sophomore Ryan Shea led the team in scoring with 17 points, and two other Blugolds also scored in double figures to give Eau Claire the road win. Freshman Josh Prince, who scored most of his points from 3-point range, added 12 points to the Blugolds' scoring column, and junior Colin Boone scored 11.
"A lot of my shots were created by the other players on the team," Prince said, "and I was just lucky enough to hit them."
Junior Geoff Probst led the team in three categories, finishing Saturday's game with a team-high 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior Dan Beyer, who scored a team-high 24 points in last Wednesday's loss against conference-opponent UW-Stevens Point, was held to just eight points Saturday against Finlandia.
Probst said he could tell Finlandia's defense keyed in on Beyer throughout the game, forcing him to kick the ball out to other players.
Finlandia junior Tyler Gordon exploded for a team-high 25 points against the Blugolds, but Eau Claire kept the rest of the team's roster to single-digit scoring to preserve the win. Eau Claire also dominated the rebounds column, collecting 51 boards to Finlandia's 25.
Both teams traded leads several times in the first half, and neither school ever led by more than five points until a 13-3 run late in the first put the Blugolds ahead by nine with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
Eau Claire finally jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the second half and eventually led by 27 points. Finlandia whittled away at the margin for the last few minutes, but the buzzer sounded with Eau Claire still holding on to a 79-69 lead.
"In the first half, I just don't think we were playing good enough defense," Probst said, adding Finlandia turnovers in the second half gave the Blugolds a chance for some easy transition points.
The Blugolds will play their last home game of the season Wednesday night against conference-powerhouse UW-Platteville. The Pioneers handed the Blugolds an 83-54 defeat in December and will come into Wednesday's game with a 12-2 WIAC record.
"As a team, we feel we're playing our best ball right now," Probst said, "and I think we're excited to have (Platteville) come into our gym and play a really good team."
The victory pushes the Blugolds to 14-9 on the season, and keeps the team at 7-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.Sophomore Ryan Shea led the team in scoring with 17 points, and two other Blugolds also scored in double figures to give Eau Claire the road win. Freshman Josh Prince, who scored most of his points from 3-point range, added 12 points to the Blugolds' scoring column, and junior Colin Boone scored 11.
"A lot of my shots were created by the other players on the team," Prince said, "and I was just lucky enough to hit them."
Junior Geoff Probst led the team in three categories, finishing Saturday's game with a team-high 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior Dan Beyer, who scored a team-high 24 points in last Wednesday's loss against conference-opponent UW-Stevens Point, was held to just eight points Saturday against Finlandia.
Probst said he could tell Finlandia's defense keyed in on Beyer throughout the game, forcing him to kick the ball out to other players.
Finlandia junior Tyler Gordon exploded for a team-high 25 points against the Blugolds, but Eau Claire kept the rest of the team's roster to single-digit scoring to preserve the win. Eau Claire also dominated the rebounds column, collecting 51 boards to Finlandia's 25.
Both teams traded leads several times in the first half, and neither school ever led by more than five points until a 13-3 run late in the first put the Blugolds ahead by nine with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
Eau Claire finally jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the second half and eventually led by 27 points. Finlandia whittled away at the margin for the last few minutes, but the buzzer sounded with Eau Claire still holding on to a 79-69 lead.
"In the first half, I just don't think we were playing good enough defense," Probst said, adding Finlandia turnovers in the second half gave the Blugolds a chance for some easy transition points.
The Blugolds will play their last home game of the season Wednesday night against conference-powerhouse UW-Platteville. The Pioneers handed the Blugolds an 83-54 defeat in December and will come into Wednesday's game with a 12-2 WIAC record.
"As a team, we feel we're playing our best ball right now," Probst said, "and I think we're excited to have (Platteville) come into our gym and play a really good team."
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