MANKATO, Minn. (November 27, 2018) – John Keefe(Sr, Medford) scored 25 second half points, but it wouldn't be enough as UW-Stout could never get a lead over host Bethany Lutheran College and the Blue Devils dropped an 88-83 decision Tuesday.
Keefe was limited to two points in the first half as Bethany Lutheran built as much as an 11 point lead with about 90 seconds remaining in the first half and the Vikings took a seven point, 41-34, lead into the locker room.
For most of the early part of the second half, the Vikings (3-4) generally held between a five and nine point lead.
Trailing 60-53 with 11 minutes remaining, Keefe cut the lead to two points with a layup and 3-pointer. The Blue Devils (3-2), after giving up a 3-pointer to the Vikings, got back to two points on a 3-pointer by Zach Dahl (Sr, Buffalo, Minn) with 9:43 remaining. That was as close as the Blue Devils would get as the Vikings put the lead into double digits again with five minutes left.
Keefe led all scorers with 27 points, hitting 10 of 20 shots, and now has 971 career points. Dahl added 11 points and Kyle Williams (Jr, Brooklyn Park, Minn) also chipped in 11 points, a Stout best for the junior college transfer.
Cire Mayfield led the Vikings with 23 points. Jared Milinkovich marked a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jarred Merchant scored 16 points.
Stout shot 29 of 68 from the floor (42.6 percent), 8 of 25 from 3-point range (32.0 percent) and 17 of 25 from the line (68.0 percent). The Vikings made 29 of 60 field goals (48.3 percent), 4 of 19 from beyond the arc (21.1 percent) and 26 of 32 from the line (81.3 percent).
Bethany Lutheran held a 38-34 advantage off the boards. Dahl and Williams each recorded seven rebounds to lead Stout. Williams had seven steals, the most steals by a Blue Devil player since Jerrel Enerson-Mathews recorded eight steals against Bethany Lutheran during the 2008 season..