Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Pointers fall to UW-Oshkosh, 63-59
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

OSHKOSH - In Wednesday night's superbly played WIAC battle with first-place Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh senior point guard Nate Miller nailed a crucial 3-pointer with 38 seconds to play and the shot clock at :01 to help propel Oshkosh to a pulsating 63-59 win before a season-high crowd of 1,369 at Kolf Sports Center.

The win was the fourth straight for the Titans (14-3, 5-3 WIAC) and pulled them within a game of the conference lead. Stevens Point (15-2, 6-2 WIAC) is in a three-way tie for first with Whitewater and Stout.

Just two weeks ago, Oshkosh was 1-3 in the conference and trailing Stevens Point by three games. Now the conference is again up for grabs.

"This makes the league as tight and exciting as it's been in years," Stevens Point coach Jack Bennett said.
"I thought tonight could have been a breakthrough game for us, but we didn't seal the deal," UW-SP coach Jack Bennett said. "I thought the key play of the game was when it was 56-53 (Oshkosh, with :41 to play). The ball got knocked loose, and I thought we had a chance at it. But Miller got it and hit a desperation 3 to put them up 6."

That's because Oshkosh wouldn't allow it thanks to a rugged defensive effort, some key 3-point shooting early in the second half by Scott Sowinski, some key free throws by Andy Fernholz and 11 second-half points from Miller.

It was a game in which neither team led by more than seven points and which featured the nation's top Division III shooting team in Oshkosh and the nation's best defensive team in Stevens Point.

Oshkosh rallied from an early six-point deficit in the second half and the two teams proceeded to smack away at each other for the next 19 minutes.

Finally, with Oshkosh leading 56-53, the Titans tried to run a set play that eventually broke down. The ball was loose on the floor as the shot clock ran down and Tim Dworak pushed the ball out to Miller who drilled the 3-pointer as the shot clock approached zero. The six-point cushion was all but insurmountable.

Miller also hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to stave off a Stevens Point rally even though there was a moment of concern when, with the Titans leading 61-57 with 10 seconds left, Point's Tamaris Relerford stole an inbounds pass. But he missed a 3-pointer and the rebound went out of bounds to Oshkosh.