Issued: November 30, 2002

MEN'S BASKETBALL SUFFERS FIRST LOSS AT HIA CHAMPIONSHIP

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team shot just 38.5 percent from the field in the second half en route to losing its first game of the season here today to the University of Rochester 66-52 in the championship game of the Holiday Inn Airport Invitational at the Louis Alexandra Palestra.

With the loss the Blugolds record moves to 4-1 overall while Rochester improves to 5-0 for the season. Rochester was ranked third in the country in the preseason D3Hoops.com poll and ranked first in the nation in Street and Smith's magazine.

The Blugolds could not stop the hot hands of the Rochester shooters as the Yellowjackets shot 58.8 percent from the floor while holding Eau Claire to 43.5 percent. Rochester dominated the defensive glass hauling in 22 defensive rebounds to Eau Claire's eight. The Yellowjackets finished the game with a 28-17 rebounding edge. Eau Claire also struggled from the free-throw line hitting just nine shots out of 18 attempts while Rochester shot 26-of-30 from the charity stripe.

The first half started out with a six point run by Rochester. Eau Claire was forced to play catch up the entire game as the Yellowjackets never relinquished their lead throughout the game. Despite sinking exactly half of their shots in the first half, Eau Claire still headed to the locker room at halftime trailing by nine points. Rochester poured it on in the second half going up by as many as 23 points with over 13 minutes to play. The Blugolds cut the lead to 12 with just over three minutes to play but that was as close as they got as Rochester walked away with a 66-52 win.

Leading the way for the Blugolds in the loss was Jason Larson (Sr-Sugarland, TX/Stephen F. Austin) who scored 19 points while grabbing a team-best five rebounds. Andy Witte (Sr-Madison/Monona Grove) also contributed double-digit scoring with 10 points. Both Larson and Witte were named to the six player All-Tournament team.

In the consolation game of the tournament John Hopkins University took a thrilling 85-84 victory away from Calvin College. Each team had four players in double-digit scoring.

The Blugolds will return home for a match-up against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent UW-La Crosse Wednesday night. Tip-Off is set for 7:00 at W.L. Zorn Arena.

Eau Claire-Rochester Box