Tues 21-Nov-2000

Stevens Point downs Viterbo
By JEFF BROWN/Tribune Assistant Sports Editor

Luke Maher was the recipient of two basketballs Tuesday night - one for setting Viterbo University's all-time scoring mark, the other for leaving as the school's all-time leading rebounder.
Viterbo coach Wayne Wagner probably wishes he could present Maher with something else - another year of athletic eligibility. Viterbo could have used Maher's offensive punch and all-around game in its out-of-league experience with UW-Stevens Point.

The defending WIAC champion Pointers simply were too big, too strong and too deep for Viterbo as they rolled past the V-Hawks 70-53 before a crowd of about 550 at Beggs Gymnasium. In dropping its home opener, Viterbo fell to 2-3 overall. UW-Stevens Point stayed unbeaten at 3-0.

"I didn't think we were ready to go and I mean from top to bottom," Wagner said. "I had a feeling tonight we didn't bring the whole package. Maybe Stevens Point took it from us. It just took us too long to get into it."

Viterbo started strong, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Mike Brudos in the first 2 minutes of the game. Brudos, however, was saddled with his second foul with 11 minutes, 59 seconds left in the first half and spent the remainder of the first half riding the bench. From that point, Viterbo spent much of the time looking for someone to ignite - or simply direct - the offense.

It didn't happen.

"Brudos is a good player, but let's just say we did what we had to do," UW-Stevens Point coach Jack Bennett said. "We tend to wear people down a little bit. Losing Brant Bailey, who was all-everything, I didn't quite know what to think this year. I like what I have seen so far. We played solid defense and we have been balanced on offense."

The Pointers no longer have Bailey, the WIAC's MVP a year ago, but they have Kalonji Kadima, Josh Iserloth and Brent Larson. The trio combined for 35 points, including 23 in the first half when the Pointers built a 36-27 lead. Kadima, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-point bombs. On the night, UW-Stevens Point was 10 of 20 from 3-point territory.

"They are very good on the perimeter, but I don't think we got ourselves in position to make the right plays," Wagner said.

Viterbo was caught out of position early in the second half when the 6-8 Isleroth stepped beyond the arc, then hit two 3-pointers. The first one slammed off the backboard, while the second one hit nothing but net. Iserloth's surprising perimeter shooting sparked a 10-2 Pointers run to start the second half, and gave UW-Stevens Point a 46-29 cushion.

Viterbo found itself down by as much as 24 points at one point before Pat Sullivan attempted to rally the V-Hawks. Sullivan scored seven of his 11 points in the second half, including a three-point play which brought Viterbo within 46-32.

"I'm big into that. If I hit my first shot, it gets me going and makes me more confident," Sullivan said. "A lot of the time we look to Mike (Brudos) to get us going. He's our go-to guy and we need that. Tonight when we didn't have him for a while, we needed someone else."

Brudos hit five of 10 shots and finished with a team-high 13 points. He played just 21 minutes, however, as foul trouble appeared to take him out of rhythm.