Reeling from five straight losses, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men’s basketball team righted the ship against the University of Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils on Wednesday night. The UWL Eagles won comfortably with a score of 76-57.  

It was the final home game of the season as well as senior night in Mitchell Hall. Before the game started, UWL senior Milton Cummings was honored with a plaque, with the PA listing off many of Cummings’ career stats with the Eagles. Cummings had his parents and many other family members cheering him on in the stands  

The first half was back and forth between the two bottom teams in the WIAC. UWL got off to a 10-2 run to start the half, but the Blue Devils came fighting back. The Eagles had a three-point barrage in the first half, hitting six of their eleven attempts. The Blue Devils were not effective from deep—one basket on nine attempts—but did get to the free throw line nine times and made eight of those shots.  At the end of the first half, UWL led by a score of 32-31.  

The story was different in the second half. Using a 15-3 run, the Eagles jumped out to a 47-34 lead early in the half, and never looked back, as the Eagles never relinquished the lead from that point on. UWL’s three-point frenzy continued in the second half, as they hit six more for a season-high total of 12.  

UWL Junior Ben Meinholz, the team’s leading scorer on the season, led all UWL scorers with 17 points, with Junior Taulvish McCray chipping in 16 more points. UW-Stout senior Isaac Elliott had a game-high 27 points on 6-13 shooting.  

The final score of the game was 76-57, as UWL ended their five-game losing streak. The Eagles sit at .500 on the season, with a record of 12-12. The win improved their conference record to 4-9 and their home record to 6-6. UW-Stout fell to an 8-16 record and a 2-11 conference record on the season. The Eagles have one final regular season game against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks in Whitewater, WI on Saturday.