Issued: December 30, 2002

BLUGOLD MEN WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT HOLIDAY CLASSIC TITLE

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team used a strong inside game to dominate the University of Sioux Falls 69-54 in the championship game of the Holiday Classic and win their fourth straight Holiday Classic title here tonight at W.L. Zorn Arena.

The victory improves the Blugold's record to 10-1 while the Cougars fall to 11-5 on the season with the loss.

Eau Claire played tough on the boards all evening and finished the contest with a 39-28 rebounding edge over the Cougars. Andy Witte (Sr-Madison/Monona Grove) led the way for the Blugolds pulling down 15 rebounds. Eau Claire held Sioux Falls to under 40 percent shooting for the game while hitting nearly 47 percent of its attempts from the field.

The Blugolds showed they were ready to play in the opening minutes jumping out to a 19-5 lead eight minutes into the game. With the strength of two 9-0 runs in the first half the Blugolds finished the half with a 34-19 lead. Casey Drake (Jr-Rhinelander) played a huge role off the bench and scored six of Eau Claire's nine points during the second run.

Eau Claire steadily added to its lead in the second half and went up by as many as 26 points late in the game. Buck Smith (Fr-Superior) put an exclamation mark on the game with a fast break, two-handed dunk with five seconds remaining in the game as the Blugolds captured the Holiday Classic title.

Jason Larson (Sr-Sugarland, TX/Stephen F. Austin) led the Blugolds in scoring with 22 points while Dan Archambault (So-Oshkosh/West) added 19 while totaling three assists and four steals. Andy Witte scored nine points and four assists for the Blugolds while Casey Drake finished the game with eight points.

In the third place game held prior to the championship Augustana College routed William Penn University by a score of 103-82 with the help of five players in double-digits in scoring. Shaun Clements led the way for the Vikings scoring 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting while Drew Carstens finished with 25 points for Augustana. William Penn was led by Jason Beall with 19.

At the conclusion of tonight's game the Holiday Classic award ceremony was held. Jason Larson took home the Tournament M.V.P. award as he finished the tournament with 39 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in two games. Andy Witte won the Outstanding Rebound award as he hauled in 22 rebounds and also took home the Hustle award. Witte and Dan Archambault were both named to the All-Tournament First Team while Casey Drake was named to the All-Tournament Second Team. Drake also took home the Fireman award, the award given to the player who made the largest impact for his team off of the bench. The Playmaker award was given to Jim Thomas of Augustana as he totaled nine assists for the tournament.

Also being named to the All-Tournament First Team was Eli Hofer of Sioux Falls, Jason Beall of William Penn and Shaun Clements of Augustana. The Second Team consisted of Sean O'Hare of William Penn, Drew Carstens of Augustana, Ben Rops of Sioux Falls, and Adam Burnison of Sioux Falls.

The Blugolds will return to action Saturday night when they will play host to conference opponent and the current sixth-ranked team in the country according to D3Hoops.com UW-Stevens Point. Tip-off is set for 7:00 at Zorn Arena.

Holiday Classic Summary

Eau Claire-Sioux Falls Box

Augustana-William Penn Box