Red-Hot Blugolds Drop #18 Loggers, 91-77

OSHKOSH, Wis. – Less than 24 hours after pulling together a come-from-behind victory over 24th-ranked UW-Oshkosh, the 18th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers ran out of magic as they couldn’t overcome the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds, falling 91-71 in a non-conference men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the UW-Oshkosh Holiday Classic at the Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh, Wis.

The Blugolds put the Loggers behind early, scoring the first nine points of the game. Puget Sound was able to catch up, tying the game at 15-15 with 10:11 left in the first half on a jumper by Nadav Heyman (Corvallis, Ore.) and the Loggers took a brief two point lead with 7:46 left to play but UWEC finished the half on a 12-2 run that put them up by 14 points at halftime, 40-26.

In the second half, the Blugolds continued to pressure the Loggers, pushing the lead to 21 with 16:19 left in the game and Puget Sound struggled to close the gap. The Loggers got back within 15 points on the first of two free throws from senior Colin Koach (Portland, Ore./Franklin). UWEC was able to slow down the usually high-octane Logger offense and Puget Sound was forced to leave the Badger State with a 91-77loss.

Puget Sound was led by 13 points from Koach, who also added six rebounds. Austin Boyce (Kent, Wash./Kentwood) chipped in 11 points to go with four steals while Kaleb Shelton (Tacoma, Wash./Lincoln) added 10 points. Freshman Edric Egberuare chipped in 10 points on the bench in the losing effort.

UW-Eau Claire was led by 22 points and 10 rebounds from Amadou Fofana. Marcus Ruh came off the bench to add 16 points while Colin Boone chipped in 12 points. Goeff Probst collected the double-double, scoring 10 points and bringing down 11 rebounds. UWEC held a 42-26 advantage on the glass.

The Loggers return to the Evergreen State for their next home game on Dec. 8 when they travel up to Kirkland to take on Northwest University.