Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team snapped its four-game losing streak with a 72-50 win at UW-Stout Wednesday night in Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Eagles improve to 12-5 overall and 2-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blue Devils drop to 6-11 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
UWL has won 15 of the last 18 meetings with UW-Stout.
The Blue Devils led 7-2 after back-to-back three-pointers from Collin Vick and Mason Stoik.
Dustin Derousseau's three-point play and
Carson Bauer's layup for UWL tied the game at 7-7. AJ Uttech's three-point with 12:40 left in the first half gave UW-Stout a 14-11 lead when UWL went on a 10-0 run to take a 21-14 lead with 8:49 remaining.
Sam Grieger had a game-high 21 points in the win.
UWL took its largest lead of the first half at 25-16 with 7:08 left after a
Sam Grieger layup. UW-Stout went on a 12-3 run to force a 28-28 tie with 3:05 remaining on Nolan Stauffacher's layup. The Eagles scored the final seven points of the half to lead 35-28.
UW-Stout opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 37-35 lead with 16:26 left on a Vick jumper, but the Blue Devils would score 13 points the rest of the game. Bauer's two free throws tied the game and
Eli Schroeder's jumper gave UWL a 39-37 advantage.
Uttech converted a free throw with 12:27 remaining to cut the lead to 42-38 when Schroeder scored the game's next four points to give UWL a 46-38 lead. Grieger's three-point play concluded a 7-0 run to make it 49-38 with 10:47 left.
The Eagles ended a 18-2 run to lead 60-40 with 7:14 remaining. UW-Stout could get no closer than 15 points the rest of the game as UWL led by as many as 24.
UWL shot 43.5% from the field, including 29.2% (seven-of-24) from three-point range, and 68.8% (11-of-16) at the free throw line.
Grieger led the Eagles with 21 points while finishing with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Schroeder scored 12 points off the bench while
JJ Paider had nine points with a team-high eight rebounds and five assists. Paider and
Jack Crowley had a team-high three steals. Crowley totaled nine points off the bench.
UW-Stout shot 39.3% from the field, including 20.0% (five-of-25) from three-point range, and 25.0% (one-of-four) at the line.
Vick, Stoik and Uttech each finished with 10 points for the Blue Devils. Vick had a team-high seven rebounds and game-high seven assists.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 24 hosting 23
rd-ranked UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Hall.
