Box Score MENOMONIE, Wis. (uwrfsports.com)- The UW-River Falls men's basketball team is in the thick of the chase for the WIAC Conference title. The Falcons (15-9, 9-4 WIAC) traveled to Menomonie, and needed a 46-point second half to comeback from a nine-point halftime deficit. UWRF defeated UW-Stout 81-79
The Blue Devils are 0-13 in conference play, but they did not play like a winless conference team early on in the first half. After a three-point field goal from senior forward
Jon Christensen to open up the game, Stout scored 13 straight points to take a 3-13 lead.
Junior forward
Garret Pearson scored three points and sophomore guard
CJ Lewis scored two points to cut the Falcons' deficit down to 8-13. Right as the Falcons trimmed it to five, the Blue Devils buried their fourth three-point field goal of the first half.
Halfway through the first half the Falcons were only down by five even though the Blue Devils were shooting well from behind the three-point line. Two free throws from sophomore forward
Brennan Witt got the Falcons within three.
Up until the four-minute mark in the first half, the Falcons and Blue Devils kept countering each other's baskets to keep the deficit around five to six points, but Stout hit four three-point field goals to extend the Falcons' deficit to nine points.
The second half opened up just like the first half did.
Jon Christensen buried a three-point field goal on the Falcons first second half possession, but he was not done. Christensen buried two more three-point field goals to bring the Falcons within six points.
Two minutes later,
Garret Pearson and Christensen scored seven points for the Falcons to bring them within one point of the Blue Devils.
Stout kept hitting shots to keep the Falcons' deficit around six points. The Falcons were down by as much as eight points during the second part of the second half, but with four minutes left in the game junior guard
Grant Erickson made a layup to tie the game at 72.
After the Falcons got a stop on the defensive end, sophomore guard
Devin Buckley buried a three-point field goal to give the Falcons their first lead since the early stages of the first half. Buckley would go on to hit two free throws to extend the lead to 77-72.
After Stout made a layup to cut it to 77-74,
Garret Pearson buried a clutch three-point field goal to give the Falcons a six-point lead with over two minutes left in the game.
Stout did not go away. The Blue Devils scored five straight points to trim the Falcons' lead to 80-79. After a missed three-point field goal from Pearson with 33 seconds left, the Blue Devils had a chance to take the lead on their next possession.
The Falcons, determined to come away with a victory, forced a turnover and got the ball with five seconds left in the game. Sophomore guard
Austin Moldenhauer came up with the ball, and was simultaneously fouled with three seconds left on the clock.
Moldenhauer hit one of two free throws to give the Falcons a two-point lead. Stout attempted a long three-point shot at the buzzer, but to no avail. The Falcons came away with an 81-79 victory.
Jon Christensen led the Falcons with 19 points and a team high 14 rebounds.
Devin Buckley was right behind Christensen with 18 points off of the bench.
Garret Pearson was third on the team with 12 points.
With the victory, the Falcons come within a half of a game within first place UW-La Crosse with one game left in the regular season.
The Falcons are back in action on Saturday, February 20 when they travel to UW-Oshkosh to take on the Titans. The Falcons' final game of the year has big implications, as the Falcons and Titans are vying for a regular season WIAC Championship. The tip off is set for 7 p.m.
