UW-River Falls 82, UW-Stout 77
MENOMONIE (February 3, 2021) - UW-Stout came back from a 21 point deficit seven minutes into the second half (66-45) to pull to within one point, 70-69, with five minutes left on
Drew Scott's layup, only to fall 82-77 to UW-River Falls in the season opener Wednesday on Dewey Mintz Court.
It looked like the Falcons (1-0, 1-0 WIAC) were going to blow the Blue Devils (0-1, 0-1 WIAC) out of the empty gym early in the second half. The Blue Devils built up a six point lead in the first half, leading 26-20 at the 8:33 mark. But the Falcons cut the lead and then turned that into a six point, 44-38, hafltime lead.
River Falls built up an 11 point lead three minutes into the second half, then outscored Stout 10-2 over the next four minutes to take a 66-45 lead. The teams traded buckets and the Falcons went up 68-47 following a media timeout.
The Blue Devils went on a run, outscoring River Falls 22-2 in a six minute roll. The Blue Devils got balanced scoring in the run.
Jon Ciriacks and
Drew Scott each had five points.
Josh Mericle and
Lovell Williams each added four and
Brody Fox and
TYreese Alexander had two points each.
The teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes until the Falcons Noah Hanson drained a three, one of his eight on the night. Stout pulled to within one point again, 75-74, on
Luke Geiger's 3-pointer with 1:39 left. Alex Ohde answered back with a three for the Falcons and Stout never got closer than three the rest of the way.
Hanson led all scorers with 28 points. Ohde finished with 17 points and 15 boards. Jack Stensgard collected 13 points and Bryce Phillips had 11.
The freshman Williams led Stout with 20 points, 14 in the second half. Senior
Armani Tinsley finished with 15 points.
The Falcons shot 12-29 from downtown, while Stout hit 10-30 from beyond the arc. The Falcons shot 31-58 from the floor (53.4 percent), while the Bule Devils shot 30-63 (47.6 percent). The Falcons had a slight 32-29 advantage in rebounds.
The night was the first night of competition as the WIAC returned to action after nearly a year of no games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No fans are allowed in the gym during the winter season, but there was plenty of noise from both benches throughout the game.
The teams will play Friday, Feb. 5, at UW-River Falls at 7 p.m..
