St. Olaf College 63, UW-Stout 57
MENOMONIE (November 8, 2019) - St. Olaf College took advantage at the free throw line in the second half to hand UW-Stout a season-opening 63-57 loss Friday on Dewey Mintz Court in Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Oles finished the night hitting 14-of-20 free throws and drained 12-of-15 charity shots in the second half to move past the Blue Devils. Stout, on the other hand, only had three shots at the free throw line and made only one of the three shots.
The teams played to a 31-31 first half draw, but Stout built up to as much as a five point, 44-39 lead six minutes into the second half. The Oles went on a 5-0 run to take a 45-44 lead at 9:40. A layup by Stout's
TYreese Alexander gave the Blue Devils a 46-45 lead, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Mac Hubbard and Noah Beck gave St. Olaf a lead they would not relinquish.
The Oles built an eight point lead, 54-46, with six minutes remaining before Stout cut into the lead on a layup by Alexander and a 3-pointer by
Matt Newman. The Oles ballooned the lead to 61-51 with 39 seconds remaining and 63-53 with 20 seconds left.
Kyle Jackson and Newman each hit a layup to cut the lead to the final 63-57 decision.
Stout's
Jon Ciriacks recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points and matched a career-best by pulling down 13 rebounds. Jackson finished with 12 points and Alexander had 10 points nine rebounds.
Beck led the Oles with his own double-double, scoring 13 points and recording 10 rebounds. Nate Albers added 12 points, hitting 8-of-9 free throws, and Jake Weber had 10 points.
The two teams had not met since the beginning of the 1988-89 season, the final season for head coach Dewey Mintz.
The Blue Devils will take on UW-Green Bay, Saturday, Nov. 9 in an exhibition game at the NCAA Division I school at 6 p.m. Stout will host Concordia College of Moorhead, Minn., Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
