La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team used a 22-7 run to start the game as the Eagles never trailed in a 92-72 win over University of Wisconsin-Stout Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The game was the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams as UW-La Crosse moves to 8-4 overall while UW-Stout falls to 6-6 on the season.

UWL recorded its fourth straight win in the conference opener and seventh in the last eight seasons.

Ben Meinholz and Brendon Manning combined for 14 points including back-to-back dunks to spark the opening 22-7 run for the Eagles. After the Blue Devils cut their deficit to 24-22 with 10:58 remaining in the first half, the Eagles went on 19-6 run to take its largest lead of the game at 43-18 with 5:13 left. UW-Stout scored 11 of the final 18 points to trail 50-29 at the half.  

 
UWL shot 62.5% (20-of-32), from the floor including four-of-nine (44.4%) from behind the three-point line. The 50 points for the Eagles was the most points they have scored in a half since November 22, 2016 when they scored 52 points against MacMurray College (Ill.). Meinholz (12 points), Manning (10 points) and Jack Kortes (10 points) led the way in the opening period for the Eagles.
 
After UWL took a 59-37 lead with 15:09 remaining, UW-Stout scored seven unanswered points to pull with in 59-44 with 13:46 on the clock. A Kortes two-point jumper and a three-pointer by Sam Skoyen answered the run by the Blue Devils as they were not able to get closer than 16 points the rest of the game. After UW-Stout made it 70-54, UWL scored 12 of the next 18 points to push its lead to 82-60 with 6:56 left on the clock.
 
Kortes led five UWL scorers in double figures as he scored a career-high 20 points on eight-of-10 shooting from the floor and four-of-six shooting from the free throw line. Joining him in double figures was Meinholz with 19 points, Manning and Taulvish McCray with 12 and Ethan Anderson with 10. Manning also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season. McCray led the Eagles with six assists.
 
UWL cooled off a bit in the second half (17-of-35, 48.6%) to finish the game 37-of-67 (55.2%) from the floor, including seven-of-23 from the three-point line and 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the free throw line. The Eagles held a 42-29 advantage in rebounds to help give them a 54-34 edge in points scored in the paint.
 
UW-Stout finished the game shooting 26-of-62 (41.9%) from the floor including seven-of-19 (36.8%) from behind the three-point line and 13-of-19 (68.4%) from the free throw line.  John Keefe led the Blue Devils with 14 points while D'Marcco Patrick and Luke Geiger each added 13 points.
 
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 5 at UW-Platteville for a 7 p.m. start.