Box Score Box Score

ST. PAUL -- A dismal first half put Northwestern behind the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse early, and the Eagles never were able to recover in a 67-54 finish at the Ericksen Center.  Northwestern went two of 10 from behind the three-point line in the first 20 minutes while the other Eagles -- from La Crosse -- were smoking from downtown, going 12-21 in the game.

Northwestern's woes began early. With La Crosse's Derek Braucht making his first four shots, three of which were from downtown, the Eagles committed turnovers on what seemed almost every second possession. Less than eight minutes into the game, a Braucht lay-up gave the visitors a 10-point lead while NWC already had committed three turnovers, with two more to come in the next minute.

The Purple & Gold briefly cut La Crosse's lead to eight on a Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) jumper, but back-to-back threes by the visiting Eagles put the Eagles in a 18-point hole. Four minutes later, NWC found itself on the bottom side of a 41-25 halftime score.

Northwestern came out with a spark in the second half, slowly gaining momentum that chopped La Crosse's lead from 20 points to seven over the course of seven minutes.  More three-pointers from the visitor's half of the court kept NWC at bay, and La Crosse left with a 67-54 victory.

Despite its three-point woes, Northwestern finished the game with a consistent 40 percent shooting mark overall. The Eagles' deep shooting improved to 36 percent in the second half before NWC leveled off at 29 percent from beyond the arc.  Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) was the only Northwestern player to reach double figures, going 5-13 overall. Gisler and Ethan Benton (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar) each led the team with five boards, as NWC was out-rebounded 33-28.

Behind Braucht's 12 points, all of which came in the first half, La Crosse shot 48 percent from the floor and a massive 57 percent from downtown.  Luke Tweed added 12 points for the Eagles, with Braden Tice chipping in 11 points.

With the loss, Northwestern falls below the .500 mark at 2-3, while Wis.-La Crosse improves to 3-1 on the season.  NWC will need to regroup quickly before heading north to face another Wisconsin school on Wednesday in Superior. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.