UW-Stout 89, UW-Eau Claire 75 |
Photo Gallery
MENOMONIE (February 21, 2009) - UW-Stout put on a show from downtown as they hit 12 3-point baskets and went on to down UW-Eau Claire, 89-75, Saturday at Johnson Fieldhouse.
The victory avenged an early season loss to the Blugolds and Stout has now won nine of the last 11 games with the Blugolds.
Eric Hostetter (So, Stillwater, Minn) was the main engineer from the outside, hitting 5-of-7 long range shots for the game, but drained 5-of-6 in the first half as he ran up 17 first half points. As a team, Stout came out red hot from behind the arc, making 10-of-20 3-pointers in the first half. Hostetter finished the game with a career-high 28 points, going 7-of-11 from the floor and knocking down 9-of-10 free throws.
Stout (8-17, 2-14) wasted little time putting some distance between them and Eau Claire (15-10, 8-8). Stout never trailed in the game and had a nine point lead, 14-5, six minutes into the contest. Hostetter had eight points in that 14-5 run.
The closest Eau Claire would come in the game was six points, 24-18, with 10:44 on the first half clock. The Blue Devils held a 49-29 halftime lead and got out to as much as a 25 point lead eight minutes into the second half.
The Blugolds did cut the lead to as close as 78-66 with four minutes remaining in the game, but Stout made 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch.
Jerrod Buchholtz (So, Durand) finished the afternoon with 16 points, all in the first half, drilling four 3-pointers for Stout. Jerrel Enerson-Matthews (Jr, Anoka, Minn) tallied 12 points. Stout was 17-of-20 from the free throw line.
Amadou Fofana came off the bench to lead Eau Claire with 11 points. Geoff Probst scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Nick Bartlett added 10 for Eau Claire.
Eau Claire was playing to host a WIAC first round playoff game, but the loss to the Blue Devils, combined with a win by UW-Oshkosh over UW-Superior gives the Blugolds the fifth seed and a trip to Oshkosh next Tuesday.
The win marked the final game of the season for the Blue Devils.
