MINNEAPOLIS – After overcoming a 23-point second-half deficit, the Augsburg University men's basketball team fell to the 15th-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 75-74 in overtime on Wednesday evening in its home opener at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: UW-La Crosse def. Augsburg, 75-74
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-1 overall, UW-La Crosse 4-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• UW-La Crosse dominated the opening half of play, outscoring the Auggies 42-24 and taking an 18-point lead into halftime.  Augsburg struggled shooting the ball in the half, hitting on just 10-of-28 from the floor (35.7 percent).
• The Auggies managed to cut the Eagles' lead to 12 near the midpoint of the second half, but UW-La Crosse still remained in control of the game.
• The Auggies caught fire in the final 10 minutes of regulation, outscoring the Eagles 25-11 to tie the game at 68 and send it into overtime.
• Augsburg looked strong early in the extra frame, scoring the first three points of the overtime period. A UW-La Crosse three-pointer from Ethan Anderson would tie the game at 71 with 1:43 remaining and another jumper from Anderson gave the Eagles a 73-71 lead with 1:01 remaining.
• A pair of free throws from Conner Knoepfle (SR, Andover, Minn./Andover HS) and a free throw by Joe Palmer (JR, Faribault, Minn./Faribault HS) gave the Auggies a 74-73 lead with 22 seconds remaining, but Sean Suchomel of River Falls put the game away with a jumper as time expired.
• Palmer was the leader once again for the Auggies, notching his second double-double in as many games this season with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds.
• Knoepfle, Matt Carik (SR, Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS), and Rayquan Moore (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) each scored 11 and grabbed two rebounds for Augsburg on the night.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Wednesday's game marked the second-ever meeting between the teams, with the Eagles now holding a 2-0 advantage in the series.

 FOR THE FOES
• UW-La Crosse was led by Ethan Anderson with 27 points and six rebounds in the game.
• Austin Westra, Wyatt Cook, and Will Fuhrmann also hit double figures for the Eagles with 16, 12, and 10, respectively.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will now shift their attention to conference play, as they are set to face Hamline University at Hutton Arena on Saturday (11/20) at 3 p.m.