Sun 2-Dec-2001

Kadima hits 21 in Pointer win at St. Francis


JOLIET, Ill. -- The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team remained undefeated for the 2001-02 season with a 77-61 victory against St. Francis Saturday.

Kalonji Kadima was the leading scorer for UW-SP with 21 points. He was 6-for-11 from the field and drained 7-of-8 shots from the free throw line.

Center Josh Iserloth scored 17 points while guard Neal Krajnik chipped in 12. The balanced offensive attack was a welcome sight for Pointers' head coach Jack Bennett.

"They are a good team and I think we countered their toughness with our toughness," he said.

The Saints (4-7) matched the inside game of UW-SP with a long-range attack from beyond the 3-point line. Guards Pat Pachiarz and Bob St. Leger combined to hit 10 shots from long distance. Pachiarz finished as the game's leading scorer with 25 points while St. Leger had 20.

UW-SP also won the defensive battle with St. Francis. The Pointers outrebounded the Saints 41-20 with Iserloth leading the team with eight boards.

"I was pleased to see us attack the glass like we did," Bennett said. "That is the kind of thing that is going to help us win against the other teams in the conference."

The Pointers sealed the victory in the second half in part to their success at the free throw line.

UW-SP hit 13 out of 18 at the charity stripe in the game's final 20 minutes.

The Pointers also had 11 steals, compared to just one for St. Francis.

St. Francis lost to NCAA Division I-A Utah 74-55 last month. Bennett is pleased to have played against -- and beaten -- a formidable NAIA opponent from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

"This was no patsy that we took on tonight," he said.

The Pointers begin play in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wednesday when they host Whitewater, co-champions of the conference last season with UW-SP.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Quandt Fieldhouse.

UW-Stevens Point 31 46 -- 77
St. Francis (Ill.) 24 37 -- 61