Issued: November 26, 2002

MEN'S BASKETBALL OVERPOWERS MSOE

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team shot over 58 percent from the field in the first half en route to defeating the Milwaukee School of Engineering 73-46 here tonight at W.L. Zorn Arena.

The win improves the Blugold's record to 3-0 for the season while the Raiders fall to 0-2.

Eau Claire played strong defense as they stole the ball nine times from MSOE and had it stolen away only three times. They also forced the Raiders to turn the ball over 21 times to the Blugold's 12. Both Blugold starters and reserves played well as 12 different players on the Eau Claire team scored at least one point.

With the game knotted up at four points apiece early in the first half, the Blugolds banged out ten straight points kicked off by a Nate Beck (So-Rothschild/D.C. Everest) lay up. The Blugolds would lead for the rest of the game. Andy Witte (Sr-Madison/Monona Grove) scored all 10 of his points in the first half as the Blugolds took a 43-23 first-half lead.

Eau Claire's shooting slipped slightly in the second half as they shot just under 42 percent from the floor but it was more than enough to hold off the Raiders. Jason Larson (Sr-Sugarland, TX/Stephen F. Austin) led all scorers as he put up 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He and Witte each sank a team best two trifectas in the Blugold victory. Larson also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds along with four assists.

The Blugolds will travel to Rochester, New York where they will participate in the Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday and Saturday hosted by the University of Rochester. The Blugolds will battle with Calvin College on Friday at 6:00 p.m. while Rochester will face John Hopkins at 8:00. The consolation game will be held Saturday evening at 6:00 and the championship game at 8:00.

Eau Claire-MSOE Box