Issued: February 19, 2003

MEN POLISH OFF PLATTEVILLE IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team climbed back to the .500 mark in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at 8-8 in their final game of the regular season with a 77-65 victory over UW-Platteville here tonight at W.L. Zorn Arena.

The Blugolds improve to 16-9 overall and jump Platteville in the conference standings as the Pioneers fall to 7-8 in the WIAC with one game remaining. Platteville drops to 11-13 overall on the season.

The Blugolds used two noticeable runs to earn the conference victory. With time winding down in the first half, Eau Claire went on a 13-5 run to take a 32-24 lead. In the second half, the Blugolds dropped 16 unanswered points on the Pioneers to turn a six point lead into a 22 point advantage.

The first 10 minutes were played extremely close with neither team opening a lead of more than four points. The Blugolds took the first noticeable advantage with just under six to play as they gained a seven point lead. Eau Claire extended the lead to eight before Platteville finished the first half on a 6-1 run to head into halftime trailing 33-30.

The Pioneers quickly cut the lead to just one in the second half but it was as close as they would get as the Blugolds poured it on from there. Eau Claire went up by as much as 11 before Platteville close the gap. With 11:53 remaining, the Pioneers hit a three-point shot to pull within six but the Blugolds went on a 16-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 22 points. Eau Claire was able to hold off the Pioneers the rest of the way and take the 77-65 victory.

Eau Claire got a huge performance from Jason Larson (Sr-Sugarland, TX/Stephen F. Austin) who was just three assists shy of a triple-double as he scored 17 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out seven assists. His 14 rebounds is a new career-high for the senior guard.

Larson also reached a milestone in his three-year Blugold career as he passed Stan Johnson for 10th place on the all-time Eau Claire scoring list. Johnson scored 1,369 points in the mid 1960's for the Blugolds.

Eau Claire got double-digit points from three players other than Larson, including Casey Drake (So-Rhinelander) who scored 12 points in just 20 minutes off the bench. Dan Archambault (So-Oshkosh/West) and Andy Witte (Sr-Madison/Monona Grove) also scored in double-digits for the Blugolds with 16 apiece.

Eau Claire must now sit tight until Saturday to see who it will play in the first round of the conference tournament. More than likely the Blugolds will be forced to play a road game in the first round.

Eau Claire-Platteville Box