Issued: February 27, 2003

BLUGOLD'S SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS AT WHITEWATER

WHITEWATER - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team's season ended when they were unable to pull of their second upset in three days in losing to second-seeded UW-Whitewater 81-69 here tonight in the Kachel Gym of the Williams Center.

The Blugolds jumped out to an early lead when they took a 14-9 lead on a Jason Larson (Sr.-Sugar Land, TX/Stephen F. Austin) three-pointer 3:52 into the game. The five point lead would the biggest of the game for Eau Claire.

The Warhawks then went on an 11-2 run to take a six point advantage at 24-18. Whitewater used two threes from Matt Jones during a 12-4 run in the latter part of the first half to take the biggest lead of the half at 11.

Larson led all scorers at the half with 17 points including three of five on threes. Aubrey Lewis-Byers led the Warhawks with 14 points at the half.

The two teams exchanged baskets for the first five minutes of the second half until the Blugolds went on a 6-0 run to bring Eau Claire within four points with 11:29 remaining. Whitewater would not allow Eau Claire to get any closer.

The Warhawks put some gap between the teams when they went on a 13-4 run to take a 74-59 lead. Whitewater would take the biggest lead of the game at 16 on a Lewis-Byers free throw with 48 seconds remaining.

Larson finished out his Blugold career with 31 points on 12 of 26 shooting. The 26 shot attempts were the most in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament history and the 12 makes were the second highest in tournament history. Larson ended the season as the 10th all-time leading scorer in Blugold history.

Andy Witte (Sr.-Madison/Monona Grove) ended his Blugold career with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Dan Archambault (So.-Oshkosh/West) added 12 points.

Lewis-Byers had the second highest point total in tournament history with 34 points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds.

Eau Claire shot a tournament percentage record 10 of 10 of the free throw line but Whitewater had 18 more attempts and 13 more makes. The Warhawks also held a 35-27 rebounding advantage.

Whitewater will advance to play fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh in the championship game after the Titans upset first-seeded UW-Stevens Point.

Eau Claire-Whitewater Box