Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 72-70 overtime victory over 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday night in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks fall to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference.  UWL earned its third win in the last 11 meetings with UW-Whitewater.

The game was tied 13-13 when UWL went on a 8-1 run to lead 21-14 with 7:54 left in the first half on a Ryan Kruser layup. The Warhawks responded with runs of 10-0 and 11-4 to take a 35-25 lead with :38 remaining.  UW-Whitewater led 35-27 at halftime.

UW-Whitewater, ranked 14th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, led by as many as 13 points in the second half at 49-36 with 15:28 remaining.  The Warhawks led 62-52 with 6:25 left after a three-point play from Trinson White.  Jared Staege's five straight points cut the lead to 62-57, but White's two free throws with 1:59 left gave UW-Whitewater a 64-57 lead.  Kruser's jumper cut it to 64-59 and after a White turnover, a Clint Rihn three-point field goal made it 64-62 with 1:12 remaining.  The Warhawks' missed a three-point attempt with :38 left.  After a UWL timeout, Staege converted a layup jumper with :17 remaining to tie the game. A missed jumper with :02 left from UW-Whitewater forced overtime as UWL ended regulation on a 12-2 run.

Devin Yurk hit one-of-two free throws with 3:21 left to give UWL a 65-64 lead before White's dunk with 3:03 remaining gave the lead back to UW-Whitewater.  Staege's jumper made it 67-66 and Yurk's three-pointer gave the Eagles a 70-66 lead with 1:38 remaining.  White's jumper with :23 left cut the lead to 70-68, but Yurk's two free throws made it 72-68 with :15 remaining.  UW-Whitewater cut the deficit to 72-70 with :08 left on a White layup and he was fouled on the play.  He missed the free throw and UWL grabbed the rebound.  Staege missed a free throw with :06 remaining, but UW-Whitewater failed to get off a shot in the final :05.

UWL shot 40.8% from the field, including 31.8% (seven-of-22) from three-point range, and 63.6% (seven-of-11) at the free throw line.  Staege and Yurk led the Eagles with 20 points each while Austin Fritz finished with 12.  Staege recorded a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds while also recording a team-high five assists.  Yurk scored six of UWL's eight points in overtime. Fritz finished with seven rebounds overall.

UW-Whitewater shot 45.8% from the field, including 20.0% (four-of-20) from three-point range, and 70.6% (12-of-17) at the line.  White led the Warhawks with 23 points and 18 rebounds while Cole Van Schyndel finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.  Haki Stampley had 12 points and five rebounds.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 20 at UW-Stout at 7 p.m.