RIVER FALLS (December 14, 2011) - UW-River Falls slowly built a 12 point halftime lead, then slowly pulled away in the second half to defeat UW-Stout, 72-52, Wednesday at Karges Center.

The Falcons (7-2, 3-0) trailed only briefly at the beginning of the game and never trailed after Wade Guerin hit a 3-pointer at the 15:53 mark of the first half. The Blue Devils (3-7, 0-3) pulled into a tie five minutes later after Erik Olson (Jr, Buffalo, Minn) hit a 3-pointer and a layup followed by a Tim Butina (So, Woodbury, Minn) at 10:55.

But River Falls assumed the lead and the game was never closer than three points after that.

Stout's Carter Ciolkosz (Fr, Maplewood, Minn) poured in nine of his team-high 14 points in the final eight minutes of the first half, but it wouldn't be enough and the Falcons built as much as a 22 point lead late in the game.

The Falcons' Guerin led all scorers with 17 points, hitting 7-of-10 from the floor.  He also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Shane Manor and Taylor Peterson each chipped in 14 points.

Jarvis Ragland (Fr, Milwaukee) scored 12 points for Stout and had a team-high seven rebounds. Stout's Olson had a steady game, scoring eight points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals.

As a team, River Falls shot 50 percent on the night (27-54), while Stout shot 34.5 percent (19-55).

The Blue Devils are off until the head south to the Concordia-Texas Classic. Stout will face Mary Hardin-Baylor, Thursday, Dec. 29 and host Concordia, Friday, Dec. 30.