Somehow, Blue Devils come all the way back to down Bethany Lutheran

UW-Stout 93, Bethany Lutheran College 92, OT (Box Score) | Photo Gallery | Archived Video

MENOMONIE (November 24, 2015) - UW-Stout played uphill all night, but somehow managed to recover their footing and went on to down Bethany Lutheran College, 93-92 in a crazy overtime victory Tuesday at Johnson Fieldhouse.

The visiting Vikings marauded the Blue Devils in the opening minutes of the contest, building a 12 point 14-2 lead only four minutes into the game. The Vikings kept up the pressure throughout the game. Although Stout would get as close as two points several times in the first half, the Blue Devils never led in regulation.

Bethany led 67-56 with six minutes left in regulation when the Blue Devils went on a 12-2 run to pull to within 69-68 at the four minute mark. The Vikings kept Stout at bay, building a six point, 78-72, lead with two minutes left and still held a five point, 79-74, lead with less than a minute remaining.

Jalen Patterson (So, Lauderdale, Minn) pulled Stout to within three, 79-76, on a layup. The Vikings' Neil Eichten hit a free throw to stretch the lead back to four points with 32 seconds remaining.

Stout's Justin Thomas (Fr, Eleva) pulled up with an errant 3-pointer, but Isaac Elliott (So, Stevens Point) grabbed the rebound and sank the bucket to make it an 82-80 game. Another free throw gave the Vikings an 81-78 lead. Brandyn Christianson (So, Rice Lake) took the rebound off the missed free throw attempt, and set up  Elliott, who drained the 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

Stout took their first lead of the game 40 seconds into overtime, rattling off three straight buckets and a six point lead on a John Keefe (So, Medford) layup, followed by a Colton Williams (So, Columbia Heights, Minn) bucket and another basket by Keefe.

Stout kept the lead between four and six points when 3-pointers by the Vikings' NIel Eichten and Bradley Rose tied the score at 90-90. A tip-in by John Lahti (So, Turtle Lake) on a missed 3-pointer by Elliott gave Stout the two point margin, but Jordan Sandmeyer tied the score with 10 seconds left. A few seconds later, Elliott was fouled and made the first shot with two seconds left and the Vikings could only get off a desperation shot as the buzzer sounded.

Keefe led Stout with 22 points. Elliott finished with 14 points. Patterson tossed in 16 points and Lahti ended with 11.

The Vikings' Brandy Frelix led all scorers with 25 points. Eichten tallied 23 and Brady Rose 11.

The game, which was the second card in a double header with the women's program, lasted 2-hours, 35-minutes and did not conclude until 10:45 p.m.

Stout will be at UW-Superior, Tuesday, Dec. 1, then returns home to host Buena Vista, Saturday, Dec. 5.