UW-Stout 97, Lakeland University 94
PLYMOUTH (November 16, 2019) – With the exception of the opening basket, UW-Stout did not lead until almost a minute in the overtime, but the Blue Devils led when they needed to and came up with their first win of the season, a 97-94 overtime win at Lakeland University (1-2) Saturday.
Trailing by 15 points early in the second half and 12 points with 2:35 remaining, the Blue Devils (1-2) would come back to force overtime. Behind the eight ball 79-67 with 2:35 left, Stout outscored the Muskies 16-4 to tie the game.
Luke Geiger scored 10 points down that final stretch and
Jon Ciriacks scored four of his game-high 29 points. Freshman
Kyle Jackson made the game-tying basket with five seconds remaining, taking a pass from Ciriacks, then stole the inbound pass to assure the tie.
Geiger and Ciriacks came to play in the overtime, with Geiger leading the charge with seven overtime points, finishing with 27 points, and Ciriacks with five points, including a 3-pointer that gave Stout it's first lead of the game.
The Muskies built a 44-33 halftime lead and continued to build onto their lead early in the second half, jumping out to a 15 points, 55-40 lead at 17:39 before Stout cut the lead to three points, 57-54, at 14:31, with Ciriacks and
Josh Mericle each getting five points in the 14-2 run. Stout couldn't keep Lakeland at bay and the Muskies built up a 79-67 lead with 2:35 to go before Ciriacks and Geiger went to work.
Ciriacks scored throughout the afternoon, scoring 10 points in the first half, 14 in the second half and five in the overtime period. His 29 points was a career-best. Geiger, fresh off a 31 point performance in his previous outing, was held to four points in the first half, but dropped in 16 points in the second period and seven in overtime. Ciriacks was 8-13 from the floor for the game, dropping all five of his 3-point attempts and all eight of his free throw attempts. Geiger was 10-19 from the floor, missing all four of his 3-point attempts, and drained seven of eight free throw attempts. Both Ciriacks and Geiger had eight rebounds.
Stout shot 36-70 (51.4 percent) from the floor, 7-16 (43.8) from 3-point range and 18-21 (85.7) from the line. Lakeland hit 33-79 (41.8) from the floor, 11-27 (40.7) from beyond the arc and 17-28 (60.7) from the line.
Jackson came off the bench and finished with 11 points,hitting 5-of-10 shots. He also had five rebounds. Mericle had seven points and six rebounds.
The Muskies were led by Eddie Burnett with 24 points. Carlos Campos had 21 points, Jequan Pegeese 13 points and Eric Jordan 11 points. Lakeland held a slight 45-43 advantage off the glass.
The Blue Devils are off until Sunday, Nov. 24 when they travel to Finlandia University for a 2 p.m. start. Stout will host Bethany Lutheran College, Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.
