Jarvis Ragland (Sr, Milwaukee) scored a career-high 24 points and the Blue Devils held a double digit lead the entire second half on the way to a 84-69 over the Wartburg College Knights in game four of the UW-Stout Thanksgiving Turkey Shootout Saturday. Ragland led five Stout players in double figures.

The Blue Devils bench played a big role in the victory, combining for 39 of Stout's 84 points. Isaac Elliot (Fr, Stevens Point) scored 11 points while Brett Ahsenmacher (So, Annandale, Minn.) and John Lahti (Fr, Turtle Lake) each had 10 off the bench for the Blue Devils. Lahti also contributed five rebounds, including two on the offensive end. Also scoring in double figures was guard John Keefe (Fr, Medford), who hit 3-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to scoring 10 points.

It was a back-and-forth affair throughout most of the first half, with Wartburg (4-1) jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes. But Stout (1-3) came back steadily, eventually tieing it up at eight on a Keefe  three-pointer at the 14:26 mark. The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game 24 seconds later, when Ragland scored to make it 10-8.

The first half featured four ties, the last of which occured with 6:26 to go in the half when Wartburg's Clay Cook hit an and-one layup and free throw to tie the game at 25. From there, the Blue Devils went on an 18-4 run to close out the half as six different Stout players scored during that time. Stout went into the break holding a commanding 14-point advantage, 43-29.

In the second, the Blue Devils continued to pour it on, never letting the lead slip under 10. Wartburg cut the deficit to 10 right away after Cook scored the first four points of the half, but from there it was all Stout as the lead grew to as many as 20 points. The Knights mounted a short-lived comeback attempt with around five minutes to go, reeling off a 6-0 run that brought them within 12, 77-65. Stout managed to keep the game just out of reach, however, closing out the night with on a 7-4 run over the last three minutes to secure the victory.

Hank Kujak (Jr, Blair) led Stout in rebounding and assists, with seven of each while playing a team-high 28 minutes. Ragland and Elliot each hit a pair of three-pointers for the Blue Devils and Ahsenmacher went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe for Stout.

Leading the way for Wartburg was Cook, who had 19 points and six rebounds. The Knight's Jordan Cannon also reached double figures, scoring 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

As a team, Stout shot 52 percent (26-50) from the field, including 9-of-26 from downtown. Wartburg shot 39.7 percent (25-63) and hit just 6-of-25 from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils were also more successful from the free throw line, going 23-32 (71.9 percent) compared to 13-23 (56.5 percent) for Wartburg. Stout also was tops in the rebounding department, snagging 42 boards to 30 for the Knights.

Up next, the Blue Devils will take on Cardinal Stritch University at 5 p.m tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 30, in the final game of the Turkey Shootout.