MENOMONIE - Just four days after an impressive last second road win over UW-Whitewater, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team shot just 34.7 percent from the floor in a 76-54 loss to conference rival UW-Stout here today at Johnson Fieldhouse.

The Blugolds fall to 10-5 on the season and 4-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Blue Devils improve to 10-3 overall and 6-1 in the WIAC.

Things turned ugly quick for the Blugolds in the first half. With Eau Claire on top 4-2, Stout went on a 15-3 run that the Blugolds could never fully recover from. A three-pointer with 7:53 left in the first half by Will Jefferson (Sr.-Wausau/East) ended the run and cut the lead to seven but the Blue Devils went on a 9-1 run to take a 15 point lead. Stout went into the half up by 16 points at 37-21.

The Blugolds pulled to within 12 points in the second half but a 21-3 run put Eau Claire away. Stout finished the game shooting 44.8 percent from the floor in the win.

Casey Drake (Sr.-Rhinelander) led the Blugolds with 13 points in the loss while Jefferson and Dan Archambault (Sr.-Oshkosh/West) each added 10 points. Drake also co-led the team with five rebounds.

Adam Chandler paced the Blue Devils with 19 points while Greg Chaisson added 15 points and six rebounds in the win.

Eau Claire struggled all day from the free-throw line, hitting just 14-of-30 from the charity stripe. The Blue Devils were 18-of-22 from the free-throw line.

The Blugolds will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday when they host UW-River Falls. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at W.L. Zorn Arena.

Eau Claire-Stout Box Score

- DN -