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About the 2001 Division III
men's basketball tournament

UW-Eau Claire 66, Benedictine 55
LISLE, Ill. — UW-Eau Claire won its NCAA Division III first round game with a 66-55 triumph over Benedictine. The triumph puts the Blugolds in a second-round game Saturday with the University of Chicago, ranked No. 1 nationally in this week's D3Hoops.com poll with a 22-3 record.

The win against Benedictine, the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference champion, was much closer than the final score would indicate. No more than five points separated the teams in the first half which ended with Benedictine on top, 27-24.

The host Eagles opened up a six-point advantage to start the second half but neither team secured any more of a lead until the final 2:13 of the contest.
Benedictine had its final lead, a 45-44 margin, with 6:10 to go. At that point, the Blugolds ran off seven successive points before Benedictine countered with four. The Blugolds then reeled off 10 in a row to grab a 61-49 lead with 1:28 showing.

Sophomore guard Jason Larson scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half to lead the Blugolds. Sophomore center Andy Witte came within a point of his season high in scoring and turned in a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He tallied nine in each half. Larson was 10 of 15 from the field including three of four beyond the arc. He also converted six of seven free throws, grabbed five rebounds and had one steal and four assists.

Neither team's leading scorer had a good night. Eau Claire's Sherm Carstensen scored his only basket in the last five minutes of the game as he hit just one of eight from the field. Benedictine's Terry Frigo, the NIIC co-player of the year, was 4-for-16 from the field and totaled just 11 points, nine short of his season average. He was still the top scorer for the Eagles who finished the season with a 20-6 record.

Although Benedictine had two more field goals, Eau Claire had three more treys (7-4) and was 19-for-28 from the foul line compared to 7-for-15 for the Eagles. Eau Claire also controlled the boards by a 37-29 margin although the Blugolds committed three more turnovers.

The win was the Blugolds' first on the road after five straight losses dating back to a win at UW-Stevens Point Jan. 3. The victory extended the Blugolds' current win streak to four, their second longest of the year, and improved their season record to 19-9.

BOX SCORE
Eau Claire 66: Matt Fermanich 1-5 6-8 9, Todd Marks 1-4 0-0 3, Sherm Carstensen 1-8 1-2 4, Jason Larson 10-15 6-7 29, Andy Witte 6-9 6-11 18, Steve Syrjala 1-4 0-0 3, Chip Flynn 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Ramberg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 19-28 66.
Benedictine 55: Bill Chura 3-4 0-0 6, Terry Frigo 4-16 3-5 11, Andy Anasinkski 1-2 1-5 3, Rick Piek 3-6 0-0 7, Nate Bronski 4-8 1-1 10, Ron French 0-1 0-0 0, Ron Welkomer 1-3 1-2 3, Andrew Cosme 1-2 0-0 2, Mike Lind 2-4 0-0 6, Bryan Uselding 3-7 1-2 7. Totals 22-53 7-15 55.
3-Pt. FG: Eau Claire 7-22 (Fermanich 1-4, Marks 1-4, Carstensen 1-6, Larson 3-4, Syrjala 1-4). Benedictine 4-17 (Chura 0-1, Frigo 0-5, Piek 1-3, Bronski 1-4, Welkomer 0-2, Lind 2-2). Rebounds: Eau Claire 37 (Witte 10, Marks 8). Benedictine 29 (Frigo 7, Uselding 6). Assists: Eau Claire 13 (Larson 4, Fermanich 3). Benedictine 10 (Frigo 3, Piek 3). Turnovers: Eau Claire 13, Benedictine 10.
Halftime: Benedictine 27, Eau Claire 24.

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