Sun, Jan 20, 2002

UWSP Upset by Blue Devils

By Jesse Horne
Central Wisconsin Sunday

STEVENS POINT - The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team slipped into a tie for third place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 95-87 loss to UW-Stout Saturday.

The Pointers (5-4 WIAC, 14-4) trailed Stout 29-21 with 2:41 left before halftime when they mounted a 11-3 run to tie the game at 32 apiece.

Josh Iserloth, Jake Guenther and Ron Nolting each hit 3-pointers during the stretch.

The lead see-sawed back and forth during the first five minutes of the second half. But, the Blue Devils scored 15 unanswered points during a span of 3:25 to build a 59-44 lead with 10:54 to play.

With four of the next five games on the road, Pointer head coach Jack Bennett issued a challenge to his team to step up on both sides of the basketball.

"We have got to find some people who don't panic with the basketball and who, at least, appreciate the value of good defense," he said. "We have a few players who think that defense is just something that gets in the way of getting the ball back. And I am not used to that. Our teams have never played that way and I don't intend to play that way in the future."

Iserloth was the top scorer for UW-SP with 30 points, followed by Nick Bennett with 13, Kalonji Kadima with 12 and Nolting 11.

Stout's Steve Krueger finished as the game's leading scorer with 37 points, including 13 points from the free throw line. Bennett admitted it was difficult stopping Stout's 6-9 post player.

"He is the best pure post-up player in the league right now," Bennett said. "But, I am just disappointed that we simply could not defend him."

Barrington Smith was also in double figures for Stout with 12 points.

The Pointers begin their road trip Wednesday when they travel to Whitewater.