Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Late rally sparks Pointers to win over Falcons
By Nathan Vine
Stevens Point Journal

Staring at a 46-38 deficit right in the face with 15 minutes left in the game, it seemed as though the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball streak of 16 consecutive wins over River Falls was in serious jeopardy.

Just then, the Pointers received a bench technical, and Falcons' star Rich Melzer hit two free throws to push the lead to 10. It was the last time River Falls would hold any momentum.

The Pointers would explode over the rest of the second half, going on a 33-5 run, including 20 points in a row, en route to a 74-61 victory at Quandt Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

The win propels Stevens Point, the eighth-ranked team in Division III, to 18-2 overall and enabled it to maintain a one-game lead over Whitewater with a 9-2 mark in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

"That was one of the most courageous and gusty performances I have ever seen," said UW-SP coach Jack Bennett of his squad's second half performance.

"We had a long ways to go to get back, but our team got their adrenaline going and took control."

The Pointers got a huge offensive boost from the sophomore duo of Nick Bennett and Jason Kalsow, who combined for 22 points in the second half. The tandem finished with 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead four players in double figures.

"Everybody who came in the game for us at some time gave us some good minutes," coach Bennett said. "When you have a lot of scoring options like that, it makes the other team struggle a bit more defensively."

Early on, however, the Pointers were the ones struggling. The Falcons came out of the gates sizzling, making 10 of their first 12 shots, to take a 24-12 lead. Though UW-SP would make a small run, River Falls still held a 37-31 advantage at halftime.

But in the game's decisive run, the wheels came off the Falcons' offense. While the Pointers were making their run, River Falls went nearly 7 minutes without scoring a point and missed 13 straight field goals. Highlighting the Falcons' woes was Melzer.
Melzer, who entered the game as the second-leading scorer in Division III at 27.2 points per game, led all scorers with 22 points but was held to just nine in the second half.

"He is an outstanding offensive player, and we knew that he was going to get his points," said coach Bennett. "We tried to play aggressively and make him work for his baskets, and when he stopped hitting shots our offense fed off that."