Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 15th on this week's D3hoops.com Poll, improved to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 71-68 win at UW-Stout Wednesday night in Johnson Fieldhouse. The Blue Devils drop to 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
Ethan Anderson hit a jumper on the first possession of the game as the Eagles never trailed in the game. UWL jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 17:28 remaining in the first half after
Craig Steele's three-point play. After the Blue Devils cut the deficit to 11-8 on a Brody Fox jumper, the Eagles scored the next eight points to lead 19-8 with 12:47 left on a
Anthony Espensen layup. UW-Stout pulled to within 25-18 on a Fox three-pointer with 8:22 left.
Craig Steele had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.
UWL quickly extended its lead to 41-23 with 1:32 remaining in the first half as
Torin Hannah and Espensen hit back-to-back three-pointers. UW-Stout finished the first half on a 7-3 run to cut UWL's lead to 44-30.
In the first half, UWL shot 52.9% (18-of-34) from the floor, 41.7% (five-of-12) from behind the three-point line.
Will Fuhrmann led the Eagles with 11 points.
UWL took a 58-38 lead with 12:41 left on a pair of
Austin Westra free throws, but UW-Stout went on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 64-55 with 6:30 remaining after two free throws from Aidan Shore. The Eagles regained a 69-57 lead with 3:59 left on two free throws from Fuhrmann when Jackson Noll connected on a three-pointer and Shore made two free throws to cut the Blue Devils' deficit to 69-62 with 2:36 remaining. Westra made two free throws to extend the lead to 71-62 and Carson Moe went one-of-two at the free throw line to make it 71-63 with 2:02 left.
After a UWL turnover, UW-Stout cut it to 71-65 on a Fox dunk with 1:34 remaining. The Eagles missed a three-pointer with 1:18 left and Noll's three-point field goal with 1:03 remaining brought the Blue Devils to within 71-68. UWL missed a three-point attempt, but UW-Stout failed to convert on a layup with :03 left. The Eagles missed the front end of a free throw, but Moe missed a potential game-tying three-point shot at the buzzer.
UWL shot 41.7% from the field on Wednesday, including 33.3% (eight-of-24) from three-point range, and 76.5% (13-of-17) at the free throw line. Anderson led four players in double figures with 16 points while Westra finished with 14, Fuhrmann 13 and Steele 12. Westra and Fuhrmann led the Eagles with six rebounds each while Anderson and Steele each recorded six assists.
UW-Stout shot 42.0% from the field, including 44.4% (eight-of-18) from three-point range, and 81.8% (18-of-22) at the line. Fox led the Blue Devils with 22 points while Shore finished with 14. Noll totaled 12 points and George Scharlau finished with 10 points and game-high eight rebounds.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 14 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 5 p.m.
