UW-Stout 65, UW-Eau Claire 51 |
Photo Gallery
MENOMONIE (January 17, 2018) - UW-Stout's
Sam Ortmann stepped in front of the pass at the UW-Eau Claire free throw line, drove the distance of the court and was hammered as he layed the ball in. Waiting to get the ball for the free throw attempt, Ortmann turned to the UW-Stout bench and smiled, then calmly dropped in the charity shot to give Stout a 10 point, 55-45, lead with just less than four minutes remaining.
That was the type of game it was for the Blue Devils as they picked up their first conference win of the season, 65-51, Wednesday on Dewey Mintz Court in Johnson Fieldhouse.
Holding a 13 point, 50-37 lead with seven minutes left in the game, the Blue Devils (7-9, 1-4 WIAC) did not blink after the Blugolds (8-8, 0-5 WIAC) cut the lead to seven with back-to-back 3-pointers.
The teams traded leads through much of the first half until Stout pulled ahead 24-22 with 2:23 left in the half on a
Zach Dahl layup.
Isaac Elliott extended the lead with two free throws, then added a jumper to give Stout a 28-22 lead with a minute remaining. The Blugolds cut the lead to 28-24 with a put-back bucket at the buzzer by Kyle McDonald.
The Blue Devils extended the lead to seven points in the second half before Eau Claire tied the score at 37-all at the 13-minute mark. Ortmann gave Stout a lead with a three-point play and Stout would never trail again, going on a 13-0 run. That's when Eau Claire got the back-to-back 3-pointers by Cam Kuepers and Chris Duff.
Stout finished the game on a 15-6 advantage, snagging their first conference win and breaking a six game losing streak to the Blugolds.
The Blue Devil defense clamped down on Eau Claire's leading scorers, Duff and George Diekelman. Duff, the conference's leading scorer, finished with eight points, just over eight points less than his average of 16.4. Diekelman, the league's fourth ranked scorer, was limited to five points. well under his 15.4 point average.
But the league's second-leading scorer, Stout's Elliott, did not disappoint, leading all scorers and four Blue Devils in double digits with 21 points, including all 10 free throw attempts, tying a school record for free throw percentage.
Ortmann wrapped up his night with 15 points, 11 in the second half.
Keegan Dickson came off the bench to play 29 minutes and scored 13 points.
Zach Dahl finished with 12 points.
As indicative by Elliott's work, the free throw line was very friendly to the Blue Devils, who made 20 of 24 shots. The Blugolds did not have near as many trips to the line, making 3 of 5 free throws.
Stout held a decided advantage off the boards, pulling down 38 rebounds to Eau Claire's 26. Stout guard
Joe Duty, wearing No. 13 rather than his usual No. 30, collected a career-best 11 rebounds. Dahl and Ortmann each had seven boards.
The Blue Devils will travel to UW-River Falls, Saturday, Jan. 20 for a 5 p.m. contest at the newly-built Page Arena.
Â
