Blue Devil men's basketball bounces back from 13 down to earn sweep of Eau Claire

UW-Stout 94, UW-Eau Claire 89

EAU CLAIRE (February 9, 2022) - UW-Stout bounced back from as much as a 13-point first deficit to go on to a 94-89 win over UW-Eau Claire at Zorn Arena to earn a season sweep over the Blugolds.

Stout (15-7, 6-5 WIAC) trailed 26-13 at the 11:47 mark of the first half before chipping away at the Eau Claire (10-13, 3-9 WIAC) lead. Over the next four-plus minutes, Stout went on an 18-5 run to tie the game at 31 apiece, then kept on running to grab a 10-point, 46-36 lead with 2:24 left in the half. 

Jon Ciriacks had 14 first half point, Lovell Williams chipped in 10 points and Armani Tinsley and Luke Geiger each contributed eight points before intermission. Stout led 48-43 at halftime.

Eau Claire took a three-point, 51-48, lead less than two minutes into the second half. Williams tied the game on a 3-pointer, but Eau Claire took the lead back on one free throw. Tinsley gave Stout a 53-52 lead and the Blue Devils built an eight point lead, only to see Eau Claire take the lead back when Michael Casper hit a 3-pointer with 11:29 on the clock.
The teams would trade leads or hold small leads until Williams tied the game and went ahead, 90-89, on a bucket and a free throw with 31 seconds left. Stout converted their next four free throws - two by Williams and two by Tinsley - to carry the win back home.

Williams led Stout with 22 points and Tinsley tossed in 21 points. Ciriacks added 16 points and Luke Geiger edged closer to 1000 career points by scoring 13 points. Geiger currently has 989 career points.

The Blugolds' Carter Hanke led all scorers with 27 points. Casper finished with 19 points, Nolan Blair with 13 and Carter Brooks with 12. 

Stout shot 57.8 percent (35-61) from the floor, while Eau Claire shot 53.8 percent (28-52).

Coupled with the Stout women's 68-60 win over Eau Claire, this marks the first time since the 2005-06 season that both the Stout men's and women's teams swept Eau Claire in the same season. 

Stout will host UW-Whitewater, Saturday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. in the final regular season home game of the year.