ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Men's Basketball team was bested by the University of Wisconsin-Stout 66-88 in non-conference play Wednesday night in Ashland, Wis.
 
The Blue Devils started the game on a 9-2 run with Jahlani Thornton scoring the first basket for NC. The LumberJacks responded with an eight-point run, capped off with an Ari Pierson three-pointer to take the lead. The lead traded handed two more times, and then UW-Stout started to build a lead. With just over three minutes left in the half the Blue Devils had their biggest lead at 13. Tyler Tuura scored twice in the paint down the stretch but the Jacks trailed 21-34 after 20 minutes.
 
UW-Stout continued to be dominant in the paint, scoring its first three shots to go up 17. Gavin Bartlett hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 12 with 10 minutes remaining, but that was the closest the Jacks would get to the lead in the second half. With four minutes left, the Jacks scored seven points in a row. During the run, Donovan Washington came up with back-to-back steals, leading to fast-break points, but it was not enough as Northland fell 66-88.
 
Pierson led the team with 16 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the and 2-of-2 from deep. Tuura and Bartlett came off the bench and scored 13 and 11 points respectively. Thornton grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds to pace the team and had a team-high four assists. Northland blocked three shots from Tuura, Thornton, and Stephen Kesti.
 
The Jacks travel to Houghton, Mich., for a 4 p.m., game with Michigan Technical University on Saturday.
 
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.