MENOMONIE - Led by Jacob Nonemacher's double-double, the UW-Stout Blue Devils defeated the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team 65-42 in the first conference game for both.

The Blugolds drop to .500 at 2-2 while Stout remains unbeaten with a 3-0 record.

Eau Claire started with a 3-2 early advantage, but a Nonemacher dunk propelled the Blue Devils past the Blugolds as Stout would never relinquish its lead. Down by a 13-7 deficit at the 10:43 mark, Eau Claire climbed back to within one after a Geoff Probst (Fr.-Moose Lake, MN/U. of North Dakota) trey at 8:53. Eau Claire then went scoreless until 3:17 was left in the half. Stout had built a 10-point 22-12 lead by then and would increase the margin by one going into halftime with 28-17 Blue Devil lead.

Dan Beyer (Jr.-Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) provided seven of the Blugold points in the half, five of them off free throws. He also had five rebounds to lead Eau Claire.

Eau Claire shot 20.8% while going 2-for-13 or 15.4% from three-point range. Stout, which shot 54.2% on the half while making 1-of-4 threes, outrebounded Eau Claire 19-to-13.

Stout continued to increase its double-digit lead in the beginning of the second half, making the score 40-18 with 13:11 left to play. The Blugolds played catch-up and got to within 10 at 8:30 after a Matt Riley (Sr.-Cadott) jumper made the score 42-32. Eau Claire did not make another basket for three minutes while Stout made 10 points and pushed the deficit to 20. The Blugolds could not surmount the Stout lead and fell 65-42 in the end.

Luke Meier (Jr.-Cross Plains/Middleton) led Eau Claire individuals with nine points. With seven boards each, Jared Bardon (Jr.-DeForest) and Beyer had the most for the Blugolds.

For the game Eau Claire shot 27.5% from the field while going 8-of-30 from behind the arc for 26.7%. The team made 60.0% of its free throws.

Stout's leader was Nonemacher, who had 15 points with 12 boards. Jerrel Enerson-Matthews had 14 points behind Nonemacher. Stout succeeded in both the rebounding and turnover margins tonight. The totals went 37-to-27 in boards and 10-to-15 for turnovers. The team made 54.0% of its shots while making a third of its long range attempts. Stout was 69.2% from the line.

Eau Claire looks for its first conference win against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opponent UW-La Crosse this Saturday when they play at 3:00 p.m. in La Crosse.

Eau Claire-Stout Box Score

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