By the slimmest of margins, Blue Devils fall just short to Whitewater

UW-Whitewater 73, UW-Stout 72 | Photo Gallery

MENOMONIE (January 18, 2020) – UW-Stout trailed by as much as nine points with four minutes left, but cut the UW-Whitewater lead to one point with 4.5 seconds remaining and the ball on their end of the court. But the shot at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and UW-Whitewater carried a 73-72 win out of Johnson Fieldhouse Saturday.
 
Trailing 70-61, TYreese Alexander cut the lead to 70-63 with 2:55 left, then stole the ball, but was fouled on the ensuing layup. Alexander made the first shot and missed the second. Moments later, Jon Ciriacks cut the lead to 70-67 on a 3-pointer. The Warhawks' James Burks answered with a 3-pointer of his own to stretch the lead to 73-67 with 1:13 left, the last time Whitewater (6-10, 1-4 WIAC) would score in the game.
 
Luke Geiger pulled Stout (5-11, 1-4 WIAC) to within 73-68 on a pair of free throws, then the Stout defense force a shot clock violation. Cliff McCray drove to the basket, made the shot and was fouled, draining the free throw to make it 73-72. The Blue Devils fouled, but the Warhawks missed both shots and Alexander cleaned the glass with the rebound.
 
Following a timeout by both teams and 4.5 seconds left, the Blue Devils' Josh Mericle drove, but the ball hit the back of the rim and fell away as time expired.
 
Stout scored the first seven points of the game and led by as much as 10 points in the first half. Whitewater pulled to with 38-36 at halftime. The Warhawks ran out to a six point lead after the intermission and built up as a much as a 10 point lead midway through the second half.
 
Two of the leading scorers in the league – the Warhawks' Equan Ards and Stout's Ciriacks – lit up the board.  Ards, the conference's leading scorer, led all scorers with 29 points, scoring 14 in the first half, 15 in the second, while Ciriacks, the league's fourth leading scorer, finished with 26 points, 18 in the first half.
 
The Warhawks had two other players in double digits. Burks finished with 17 points and Bailey Kale 10.
 
Alexander collected his first Stout double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 10 boards. Ciriacks had eight rebounds.
 
The Warhawks shot 54.5 percent (30-55) from the floor, while Stout shot 40.8 percent (29-71).
 
Stout will host UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, Jan. 22, then will travel to UW-Stevens Point, Saturday, Jan. 25.