OSHKOSH, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team recorded 51 second-half points and crushed Silver Lake College (Wis.) 90-62 during the final day of the UW-Oshkosh Classic.
The initial closeness of the game evaporated after Amadou Fofana (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./West) made a layup 2:28 into the first period and gave Eau Claire a lead it never relinquished. Steadily, the Blugolds built up their lead throughout the game. Powered by 13 first-period points from both Fofana and Ivan Franklin (Sr.-Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater/UM-Duluth), Eau Claire carried a lead of 15 points into the second half.
The Blugolds didn't hold anything back in the second period. Sixteen points from Marcus Ruh (So.-Green Bay , Wis./Bay Port) and another 12 from Fofana propelled the Blugolds to the dominating 90-62 victory.
Fofana led the teams in scoring, putting 25 points – a career-high and the most for any Blugold this season – on the board for Eau Claire. Ruh and Franklin also broke into double digits, tallying 18 and 15 respective points. Dustin Kalien (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chi-Hi) recorded a team-high eight rebounds. The Blugolds also nailed 61.7 percent (37 of 60) of their shots and limited the Lakers to 41.8 percent (23 of 55) in the win.
The Blugolds improve to 3-2 overall. Eau Claire will compete in its first conference game of the year this Wednesday against UW-Oshkosh. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Zorn Arena.
