UW-Stevens Point 72, UW-Stout 61
MENOMONIE (January 23, 2019) - From the floor, UW-Stout had one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting 48.3 percent of their shots, but it wouldn't be enough as the Blue Devils were downed by UW-Stevens Point, 72-61, Wednesday on Dewey Mintz Court in Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Blue Devils (6-12, 0-7 WIAC) dropped in 28 of 58 shots from the floor, more field goals than the Pointers (12-5, 4-3 WIAC). But the visitors made up for it by making eight 3-pointers and making their free throw shots count by connecting on 14 of 18 charity shots.
Stevens Point led for the majority of the game and did not trail after the midway point of the first, although the Blue Devils did knot the score with six minutes left in the first half at 18 apiece. The Pointers went on an 11-0 run over the next five minutes and led 31-24 at halftime.
Stout got as close as three points with around five minutes left in the game when
Luke Geiger hit a 3-pointer to make the score 52-49. The rolled off the next seven points to build a 10 point lead.
Stevens Point, ranked 20th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, and coming off back-to-back losses, had four players in double figures, led by Ethan Bublitz's 22 points. Nate Dodge, the team's leading scorer, added 15 points. Brett Tauber added 13 adn Drew Fredrickson 12.
Geiger led Stout for the fourth consecutive game, this time matching a career-high with 21 points. Geiger was 9 of 17 from the floor and hit 3 of 10 3-pointers.
Zach Dahl contributed 10 points.
Stout was 4 of 23 from 3-point range, while Stevens Point countered by hitting 8 of 23. Stout made only one free throw in four attempts.
The Blue Devils begin the second round of conference play and will be at UW-Platteville, Saturday, Jan. 26 for a 7 p.m. contest.
