Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned an 84-77 victory at UW-Stout Wednesday night in Johnson Fieldhouse. The Eagles, ranked 13th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Blue Devils drop to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
It is the Eagles' 13th win in the last 16 meetings between the teams.
UWL never trailed in the first half, scoring the first six points of the game.
JJ Paider scored four points and
Sam Grieger two to start the game. UW-Stout cut the lead to 11-8 on a Jacob Walczak layup, but UWL used a 6-1 run to take a 17-9 lead with 12:47 left on a
Khris Green layup.
Will Fuhrmann finished with 15 points and four steals.
Ben Goedheer's three-point play extended the Eagles' lead to 23-13 with 10:19 remaining. The Blue Devils cut it to 26-22 on a Brenden Weis dunk, but an 8-0 run by the Eagles made it 34-22 with 5:59 left. UW-Stout made it 39-34 with 1:14 remaining, but Grieger and
Karter Thomas scored the last four points of the half to give UWL a 43-34 advantage.
UW-Stout cut the lead to 54-53 on Walczak's three-point field goal with 12:19 left before UWL's
Dustin Derousseau made a three-pointer and Grieger a layup to make it 59-53.
Will Fuhrmann's three-point play with 10:42 remaining gave the Eagles a 62-53 lead.
The Blue Devils would get no closer than four points the rest of the game. Derousseau's three-pointer gave UWL a 65-57 lead with 10:14 left and Paider's two free throws with 8:21 remaining extended it to 71-62. AJ Uttech's jumper made it 75-71 with 2:26 left before Green's layup gave UWL a 77-71 lead with 1:58 remaining. Justin Nelson made a jumper with 1:45 left cut it to 77-73, but UWL's Grieger (:28 left) and Thomas (:18) both made two free throws for the final margin.
UWL shot 46.9% from the field, including 33.3% (six-of-18) from three-point range, and 78.3% (18-of-23) at the free throw line.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Eagles with Paider leading the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. He was seven-of-11 from the field and six-of-six at the line. Fuhrmann finished with 15 points, going five-of-nine from the field, including two-of-four from three-point range. He also had a team-high four steals.
Derousseau totaled 13 points while Grieger finished with 11 and Thomas 10. Greiger added eight assists and six rebounds while Thomas also recorded six rebounds.
UW-Stout shot 52.4% from the field, including 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, and 71.4% (five-of-seven) at the line. Walczak led the Blue Devils with 17 points while Uttech finished with 16 and Nelson 13.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 18 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 5 p.m.
