Thurs 13 Dec-2001

Pointers chalk up first WIAC win with OT defeat of La Crosse
By JESSE HORNE
Journal staff

STEVENS POINT -- The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team was looking for an early holiday gift on Wednesday when it faced La Crosse.

The Pointers received it in the form of an 86-75 overtime win at Quandt Fieldhouse. It marked the first WIAC victory of the 2001-02 season for UW-SP, and dropped La Crosse to 2-1 in league play.

"We were a wounded team going into tonight," said Pointers head coach Jack Bennett. "We lost our leader in (Kalonji) Kadima and our psyche has taken a bruising with the tough losses last week to Whitewater and Stout. I am proud of this team for how they came back and fought hard.

"The one thing we did ask the guys to do was to play hard for 40 minutes. Little did we know it was going to be 45 minutes," Bennett said.

Entering the extra period knotted at 69-69, La Crosse's Eddie Hebert gave the Eagles the lead by outscoring UW-SP 5-2 in the first minute of overtime.

Hebert, who finished the game as La Crosse's leading scorer with 19, scored his 1,000th career point on a layup with 9:37 left in the first half. He is the 11th men's basketball player in UW-La Crosse history to score 1,000 points.

After letting the lead slip away, the Pointers took control for good on a basket by Jason Kalsow with 3:11 left in overtime.

UW-SP (8-2 overall, 1-2 WIAC) also benefited by making nine out of 10 free throws in the extra period, compared to just four out of seven from the charity stripe for La Crosse.

The game started with the lead see-sawing back and forth and the Pointers were leading La Crosse (8-2 overall) 38-36 at halftime. After a jumper by the Eagles' Ryan Petry to start the second half, UW-SP broke out for their largest lead of regulation, culminating with a 3-pointer by Josh Iserloth.

But La Crosse fought back and captured the lead with 4:15 remaining in regulation on a 3-pointer by Matt Schultz.

UW-SP had a chance to win the game in regulation when Iserloth stepped to the line for two free throws with UW-SP trailing 69-68. However, he made only one out of the two shots, tying the game with 21 seconds remaining.

Iserloth finished with a career-high 30 points, including drilling 12 out of 15 shots from the stripe.

The Eagles set up for one final play in the second half, but sophomore Casey Taggatz -- a graduate of SPASH -- missed a jumper with two seconds left on the clock.

The Pointers are back in action tonight when they host Mount Senario College of Ladysmith. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in the Quandt Fieldhouse.

UW-La Crosse 36 33 6 -- 75
UW-Stevens Point 38 31 17 -- 86