STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team suffered a tough loss to conference rival UW-Stevens Point tonight at Bennett Court by a score of 80-61.

With the loss, the Blugolds drop to 14-8 overall and 6-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Stevens Point, ranked sixth in the nation in the Week 10 D3hoops.com national poll, improves to 19-3 overall and 10-3 in conference play.

The Pointers took the lead 2-0 only 14 seconds into the game and would hold it the rest of the way, leading by as much as 22 in the second half. The Blugolds were able to cut the lead to only a point midway through the first period, but then Stevens Point pulled away, taking a 12 point lead into halftime. The Pointers would lead by double digits most of the second half.

The Blugolds had trouble getting shots to fall, shooting only 32 percent (8-for-25) from the floor and 14.3 percent (1-for-7) from behind the arc in the first half. The team ended up with a field goal percentage of 42.3 percent (22-for-52) and a three-point field goal percentage of 26.7 percent (4-for-15) for the game and finished with 65 percent from the free throw line in the contest. Twelve turnovers also hurt Eau Claire while Stevens Point had just six, the fewest an opponent has had against Eau Claire this year.

The team finished with three scorers in double figures. Guard Colin Boone (Sr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) led the Blugolds with 14 points, the third time he led the team while it was the eighth time he reached double-figures this season.

Boone was followed by post players Geoff Probst (Sr.-Moose Lake, Minn.) and Amadou Fofana (Jr.-Appleton, Wis./West) who pitched in 13 and 12, respectively. Boone also added four assists while Fofana collected a team-high seven rebounds and three of the team's four blocks in the game.

Eau Claire will travel to UW-Whitewater for a WIAC matchup with the Warhawks on Saturday, February 13. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.