EAU CLAIRE - With a 76-60 score, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team never trailed as it defeated the now 1-6 St. Scholastica Saints at Zorn Arena tonight.

The Blugolds got off to an early jump. By the 15:50 mark, Eau Claire was up 9-2. With 10:19 remaining in the first half, the Blugolds had doubled up the Saints on a 24-12 score that was capped off by a B.J. Vetterkind (Fr.-Mondovi) three pointer. The closest St. Scholastica got through the rest of the half was seven points. The teams went to the locker rooms with the score 49-30 in favor of the home team.

Eau Claire shot 55.6% in opening half. The Saints shot 37.5%. The Blugolds also got 13 points off of turnovers while St. Scholastica managed two.

Dan Beyer (So.-Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) got the Blugold scoring started in the second half with a lay-up and a three pointer. While St. Scholastica doubled their score in the second half, it could not catch the Blugolds as they continued their domination. Eau Claire pushed the score to its largest lead of the night at 24 with 16:47 remaining. At the midway point of the half, Eau Claire was up 68-48. The team then made eight points from there on out, but St. Scholastica only put up 12 and could not cut far enough into the lead.

Zack Ryan (So.-Lake Elmo, MN/Tartan) scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Blugolds. Jared Bardon (So.-DeForest) and Dan Ottney (So.-Glenwood City) were behind him with 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Bardon also led in rebounds with eight.

Eau Claire made 48.4% of its shots from the floor tonight. The team made 10 three pointers for a 45.5 percentage. The Blugolds went exactly 50.0% on all free throws. The Saints were kept to 38.1% on total field goals and 21.7% behind the arc. They did go 53.8% from the line. Eau Claire had 18 points off of 21 Saint turnovers while the Saints scored eight in return. The Blugolds were out-rebounded 41-38.

With this winning streak, Eau Claire has brought its .500 record up to 6-3 on the year.

The Blugolds take a rest until the Holiday Classic, hosted by Eau Claire, on December 29th and 30th.

Eau Claire-St. Scholastica Box Score

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