NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament Second Round:
Chicago 74, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 67

UW-Eau Claire (19-10) led 27-24 after a first half that saw eight ties and three lead changes.

Chicago (23-3) took the lead for good in the second half on a basket by junior Justin Slaughter (Chicago, Ill./U. of Chicago Lab School), giving the Maroons a 36-35 edge with 15:06 left.

Chicago led by as many as 11 at 46-35 at the 11:24 mark. UW-Eau Claire then went on a 14-4 run to close the gap to 50-49 with 5:38 remaining in the contest. Sherm Carstensen scored 10 of his 15 points during that stretch.

Junior Jon Poyer’s (Collierville, Tenn./Brother Rice, Mich.) three-pointer at the 5:05 mark broke a 4:19 Chicago scoreless streak and put the Maroons ahead 53-49. A three-point play by Reich 47 seconds later put the game away as the Blugolds got no closer than five the rest of the way.

Junior Tyler Smithson (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) finished with 14 points for the Maroons, while Poyer contributed 11. With the win, Chicago advances to the national round of 16 for the fourth time in the past five years.

Jason Larson paced UW-Eau Claire with 22 points, while Andy Witte chipped in 11. Carstensen and Witte both fouled out in the second half.