Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball earned its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) win of the season with an 89-85 victory at UW-Stout Wednesday night in Johnson Fieldhouse. The Eagles, ranked 11th on D3hoops.com, improve to 10-2 overall and 1-2 in the WIAC while the Blue Devils drop to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference. 

UW-Stout scored the game's first five points Wednesday before UWL took its first lead at 8-7 on Ethan Anderson's three-point play with 16:20 left in the first half. The Blue Devils responded with a 10-2 run to take a 17-10 advantage with 13:24 remaining after Brody Fox's layup. Austin Westra's layup for UWL later cut the lead to 19-14, but Armani Tinsley scored five straight points to give UW-Stout a 24-14 lead. 

The Blue Devils took their largest lead of the first half at 34-21 with 7:12 left on Jon Ciriacks' layup. The Eagles used a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 36-33 with 4:12 remaining after Henry Noone's three-point field goal. UW-Stout led, 46-40, at halftime. 

Noone's three-pointer with 17:37 left cut the lead to 49-47. UW-Stout scored the game's next five points to take a 54-47 lead, but UWL went on a 18-0 run to take a 65-54 lead with 10:08 remaining on Torin Hannah's jumper.  The Eagles went seven-of-nine from the field and four-of-four at the line in the run while the Blue Devils missed seven straight shots and had five turnovers. 

UW-Stout used a 11-2 run of its own to cut the lead to 67-65 with 8:06 remaining, but would get no closer the rest of the game. After Tinsley's three-pointer with 5:41 left cut the margin to 72-70, Anderson and Westra each had a layup for a 76-70 lead. UWL took a 83-75 lead on Anderson's layup with 2:42 remaining, but UW-Stout cut the deficit to 85-83 with :30 left on a Lovell Williams' three-point basket. Anderson's two free throws with :15 left gave UWL a 87-83 advantage, but Ciriacks connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe with :06 remaining to make it 87-85. Noone sealed the win with a pair of free throws with :04 remaining. 

The Eagles went six-of-six at the line in the final :42. 

UWL shot 49.2% from the field Wednesday, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 77.8% (21-of-27) at the free throw line. Anderson led five players in double figures for the Eagles with 25 points. Noone finished with 16, Wyatt Cook 14 and Westra and Hannah each had 10. Sean Suchomel grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. 
 
UW-Stout shot 41.8% from the field, including 38.7% (12-of-31) from three-point range, and 70.8% (17-of-24) at the line. Tinsley led the Blue Devils with 24 points while Lovell Williams finished with 22 and Ciriacks 17. Ciriacks led UW-Stout with 10 rebounds. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 8 at UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m.