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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Sunday, February 03, 2008

Haass lives up to No. 34 with double-double in UW-L men's victory

By KIRK BEY / La Crosse Tribune

Andrew Haass approached UW-La Crosse men’s basketball coach Ken Koelbl before the season with a request: He wanted to wear No. 34.

In case you’ve forgotten, that was the jersey number worn by former UW-L forward Joe Werner, last season’s WIAC Player of the Year. In case you’re wondering, Haass was indeed in his right mind when he asked Koelbl about switching from No. 35.

Haass, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, did it only because he wore No. 34 at Mayville High School. In fact, prior to UW-L’s 62-53 victory over UW-Superior on Saturday at Mitchell Hall — a game in which Haass scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds — that was the last time he had a double-double.

Haass doesn’t expect to even come close to attaining the success Werner had while wearing No. 34 from 2003 through ‘07. After all, Werner scored 1,404 career points (fourth in school history) and had 31 career double-doubles.

But Haass, who had 10 points and five rebounds in the second half to help UW-L (10-10, 5-6) take control, certainly did nothing to embarrass himself Saturday against Superior (8-11, 4-7).

“I’m just trying to carry on the tradition (Werner established),” Haass said. “That’s easier said than done.”

Still, Haass has done a commendable job since Koelbl made him a starter against UW-Whitewater on Jan. 9. He’s averaging 9.4 ppg in UW-L’s last eight games, including an 18-point effort in the Eagles’ 80-67 road loss Wednesday to Whitewater.

The Eagles needed Haass’ offensive output against Superior, as freshman guard Tony Mane, UW-L’s leading scorer at 16.2 ppg, finished with two points, which came on a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left. Haass 3-for-4 from the floor, and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Senior guard Chris Fehrenbach and junior point guard Brandon Brown sparked the Eagles by scoring 21 and 12 points, respectively. But Brown was happy that Haass proved to be a dependable third option.

“What Andrew did today was very important. We felt we could attack inside and get some easy baskets,” Brown said. “It’s not often that Tony doesn’t score until that late in the game. (What Haass did) just shows that other guys can step up.”