Box Score

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Trailing by 11 at the half, the University of Northwestern men's basketball team overcame the deficit to bring its contest against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire within three at the one minute mark, but the Blugolds were able to fend the Eagles off. UNW capped off its two-game stretch in the holiday tournament with a 70-65 deficit in favor of the host school amidst the late surge from Northwestern.

The game kicked off in favor of the visitors on the scoreboard courtesy of an Eric Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) triple and a Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) bucket which brought the lead to six at two early points in the contest. At the 15:10 mark the momentum began to turn in favor of UW-Eau Claire as the home squad held on for the remainder of the half to lead 44-33 at intermission.

The second period began in much of the same fashion as the first period ended, with the home team on the board holding the upper hand. Queue the final five minutes and the Purple and Gold saw new energy as the squad began a 10-0 run with Blake Van Maanen's successful free throws. Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) took over, scoring the next eight points as the game was within one possession at the 1:08 timestamp.
A missed Blugold field goal coupled with a UNW turnover sent the ball back to UW-Eau Claire as Adam Hjelter went 2-2 from the line with 11 seconds left to secure the final 70-65 outcome.

The Eagles posted a 44.7 field goal percentage on the evening while the host institution bested the mark with a 49.2 rate. Gisler led all scorers with 19 points in 35 minutes of action, while Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Van Maanen joined their teammate in the double-digit scoring column.

Northwestern (3-8) will now have a brief break in play after a grueling non-conference schedule. UNW will next take the court for its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) portion of the 2013-14 campaign on January 11 versus North Central University.