UW-La Crosse 85, UW-Stout 75
La Crosse, Wis. - Jeff Heiden scored a career-high 18 points as the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned an 85-75 victory over UW-Stout Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 14-5 overall and 6-4 in the WIAC while the Blue Devils fall to 9-9 overall and 4-6 in the conference. It is UW-L's ninth straight win over UW-Stout.
UW-L led by as many as six points in the first half while UW-Stout led by as many as five. The Eagles led 37-34 at halftime after shooting 58.3% (seven-of-12) from three-point range.
UW-Stout took a 52-47 lead with 12:51 left in the game, but UW-L came back to force a 57-57 tie with 10:05 remaining. The Eagles led 61-60 with 6:50 remaining, but went on a 14-3 run to lead 75-63 with 1:36 left.
Al Chery had eight points in the run for UW-L, including a pair of three-point plays.
UW-L made its last 10 free throws in the final 1:00 to secure the victory.
Heiden finished five-of-eight from the field, including four-of-six from three-point range, and hit all four of his free throw attempts.
Tony Mane and
Trevor Stratton each had 16 points for the Eagles while
Austin Scott finished with 12 and Chery 11. Scott was four-of-five in three-pointers.
Jordan Rumpel had a team-high seven rebounds.
UW-L shot 50.9% from the field, including 47.8% (11-of-23) from three-point range. The team shot 83.3% (20-of-24) at the line.
Jerrel Enerson-Matthews led UW-Stout with 19 points, including 16 in the second half. Eric Hostetter had 18 points while Jerrod Buchholtz finished with 13 and Mahlon Thomas 12. Thomas also had a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Blue Devils shot 44.3% from the field, including 42.1% (eight-of-19) from three-point range. UW-Stout shot 65.0% (13-of-20) at the free throw line.
UW-L returns to action Saturday, Jan. 30 at UW-Platteville at 5:05 p.m.