Sun 18-Feb-2001

UW-SP men repeat as WIAC champs
CW Sunday staff

SUPERIOR - The season-long rally is complete, and the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team has secured a second consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

The Pointers knocked off host Superior, 76-61, Saturday night to gain a share of the WIAC title with Whitewater (10-6 records).

Entering the final day of regular season action, four teams were tied for the conference lead.

When Saturday night ended, River Falls and Eau Claire had fallen away, leaving the Pointers and Warhawks as co-champs.

A second-straight WIAC title seemed improbable for Stevens Point just a few weeks ago, when UW-SP was looking up at the leaders.

"We were never in the driver's seat all year until now, the last game of the season. From a pure talent standpoint, we knew we weren't as good as last year. But we discovered we were more unselfish and a more complete team," said Pointer coach Jack Bennett. "This means a lot. Any team can get hot in the conference tournament for a couple of game, but this title is won during the course of two and a half months."

Not that Bennett doesn't want his team to stay red-hot for the upcoming conference tournament. The Pointers are the No. 2 seed and will play host to seventh-seeded Platteville Tuesday at Quandt Fieldhouse.

Whitewater drew the No. 1 seed and will host Stout.

Before the Pointers could think about the WIAC crown, they had to take care of business against Superior. UW-SP led throughout a contest that was never really in doubt.

The formula for victory was one Bennett has been preaching to his club during the latter portion of the 2000-01 season. The key to success has been "D-Z-3," according to Bennett.

The "D" naturally stands for defense. The "Z" represents "Zuiker," as in Joe, the UW-SP forward and the rest of the interior players.

The "3" is for long-range bombs, which the Pointers have converted with a great deal of success all year.

Against Superior, UW-SP drilled 8-of-16 shots from beyond the arc. Against River Falls Wednesday, the Pointers hit a school record 15 threes.

"I think right now we're the most dangerous 3-point shooting team in the league. Overall, we're playing our 'D-Z-3' theory really well," Bennett said. "We took the game from (Superior) with excellent shooting, great defense and an all-around outstanding ball game."

Jay Bennett led a balanced UW-SP attack with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Josh Iserloth (13), Brent Larson (12) and Zuiker (11) were the other Pointers who reached double figures.

In the game, UW-SP held Superior to just 5-of-31 shooting from 3-point range.