LEWISTON, Idaho – Nathan Staidl’s 14-foot jumper with 38 seconds left broke a tie and he later hit a free throw to help the University of Wisconsin-Stout ice the game in an 82-80 win over Lewis-Clark State College in a nonleague men’s basketball game at the LCSC Activity Center on Monday night.
With the contest tied at 76, LCSC had the ball, but junior guard Markus Monroe was called for an offensive foul with 49.2 seconds left. Stout got the ball and used excellent ball movement to find Staidl wide open for his game-winning shot.
LCSC’s Tanner McIntosh then missed a 3-pointer and the Warriors were forced to foul. Stout’s Jordan Moss missed a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left, but managed to get his own rebound diving after the loose ball and getting a timeout. Staidl then was later fouled and hit the first free throw. After he missed the second, Stout got a thunderous dunk from Mahlon Thomas and a free throw for an 82-77 lead. Monroe hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final.
Wisconsin-Stout, an NCAA Division III team, improved to 5-7 with the win, while LCSC, an NAIA Division I club, fell to 8-5.
Despite a hectic pace played by both teams, neither team seemed to get into a comfortable flow. The contest, however, was within five points most of the way with the largest lead of the night by either team at 10 points.
Jerrel Enerson-Matthews scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to pace Stout, while Eric Hostetter added 14 and Jerrod Bucholtz scored 12.
Monroe led all scorers with 28 points, while McIntosh, Daniel Williams and James Craft had 11 each.
Despite hitting only 2 of its first 13 shots from the field, LCSC only trailed 12-11 at the midpoint of the first half. A 3-pointer by Derek Gianukakis put the Warriors ahead, and another 3-pointer from Gianukakis gave LCSC its biggest lead of the half at 17-12 at the 8:59 mark.
Wisconsin-Stout fought back behind Hostetter, who hit three 3-pointers in the first half. He also hit a pair of free throws at the 4:30 mark to put Stout up 27-25. A steal and layin by Staidl gave the Blue Devils their largest lead at 29-25, but LCSC answered with a 4-0 run to tie it at 29.
The two teams exchanged baskets before the Blue Devils went on a 5-0 run and eventually took a 36-35 halftime advantage.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first half. Wisconsin-Stout was 14-of-34 (41.2 percent) from the field, including 4-of-14 from the 3-point line. LCSC was 10-of-27 for 37 percent, but 4-of-8 from the 3-point line.
The Warriors, however, had 14 turnovers at the half, while Stout had 10.
In the second half, the Warriors used a pair of free throws from Williams to take a 37-36 lead, but Stout answered with a 7-0 run, the largest of the game, for a 43-37 advantage with 17:20 left.
Stout, behind the shooting of Enerson-Matthews, pushed the lead to 58-50 with 11:30 left. Enerson-Matthews hit three 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the second half.
Stout pushed the lead to 65-55, but Monroe scored nine straight points over a 3-minute span to get the Warriors back in the contest.
A 3-pointer by Jared Giammona put LCSC temporarily ahead at 68-67 with 5:55 left, but Stout answered with a bucket to regain the lead.
Stout made it a 6-0 run after buckets by Michael Fant and Jordan Moss, but Monroe countered with a pair of free throws and a dunk to cut the margin to 73-72 with 2:35 left.
Free throws by Moss and Hostetter kept Stout in front, but a 3-pointer by Tanner McIntosh at the 1:25 mark tied the contest at 76 to set up the finish.
Stout finished the game 31-of-71 from the field for 43.7 percent, while LCSC was 23-of-55 for 41.8 percent.
LCSC returns to action Tuesday night in Boise in an exhibition game against the University of Idaho at 6:05 p.m., PST. The contest was originally scheduled to be played in Moscow but was moved to Boise for UI fans that are planning to attended Wednesday’s Humanitarian Bowl football game.
