UW-La Crosse Mens Basketball

By JON MASSON
Of the Tribune Staff

It's just that Clarke College packed in a 2-3 match-up zone around UW-L front-line players Melvin Veasley, Eric Dudek and Jay Daly.

So, the Eagles focused on their perimeter game.

UW-L made 14 of 34 three-point attempts, including a blistering eight of 12 in the second half, and coasted past Clarke 77-39 in the season opener for both teams at Mitchell Hall.

UW-L backup point guard Dylan Bates led the way with 15 points on five three-pointers in the nonconference game watched by 180 spectators on a snowy Saturday night.

"To take 34 three-point field goals, you won't see that very often (from UW-L),'' Gross said. "I would never have predicted that.''

The total of 34 three-pointers attempted was one short of the school record and the 14 made came up two shy of the school mark.

The Eagles converted only six of 22 three-point tries in the first half and led 31-24 at halftime. They shot 55.9 percent in the second half while outscoring the Crusaders 46-15.

"We had a very good second half,'' Gross said. "It's a much easier game when they hit the shots.''

The Eagles opened a 66-34 edge with a 20-0 run in the second half. The Crusaders went scoreless for six minutes, 54 seconds. UW-L's lead steadily increased to the final margin of 38 points.

Clarke wound up shooting 23.4 percent for the game, including going 3 for 24 in the second half.

"The ball has got to go in the basket,'' Clarke coach Jon Davison said. "Our execution wasn't very good. Theirs was. In the second half, they hit everything.''

Davison has returned to coaching this season. He coached at the University of Dubuque for 27 years before working the last three years in the family entertainment business (basketball, batting cages, miniature golf, arcades) in Minneapolis.

"They've got a nice ballclub,'' Davison said. "We knew that.''

Clarke started fast, leading 8-2. But a 13-0 run by UW-L wiped out that deficit. Bates sank two three-pointers and Steve Tracy hit one during that spurt. The Eagles' biggest lead in the first half was 28-19 when Veasley made a nice pass to a cutting Chuck Simpson for a layup.

Dudek added 10 points and Ryan Eklund totaled nine for the Eagles, who played 15 people. Veasley was limited to four points and six shots, but he grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

"They did a good job taking Melvin Veasley out of the game,'' Gross said.

Starting point guard Ty Cornell, who hit two three-point shots in the second half, and Bates connected from outside for the Eagles. Unlike Wes Warren, last season's starting point guard who preferred to penetrate and create, Cornell and Bates are perimeter players.

"This year, we have the opposite,'' Gross said. "We have two point guards ð Ty Cornell and Dylan Bates ð who are definite three-point shots.''

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