Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Pointers make case argument
Fourth straight WIAC title nearer

By JEFF POTRYKUS

Stevens Point - University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point officials can begin clearing out some room in the school's trophy case for another piece of WIAC men's basketball hardware.

Nothing is official, but Point's impressive 71-53 victory over UW-Whitewater Wednesday night gave the Pointers a two-game cushion with three Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season games left.

"We didn't win it yet," Point coach Jack Bennett said. "But this was a huge step."

The Pointers (20-2 overall, 11-2 WIAC) need one victory to clinch at least a share of their fourth consecutive regular-season title and can do so Saturday at La Crosse (6-16, 2-11).

Whitewater (17-5, 9-4) dropped into a second-place tie with Stout (14-7, 9-4), and both teams will need plenty of help to catch the Pointers, who are ranked No. 7 in the nation in the latest D3Hoops.com poll.

"If we can get a four-peat in this league," Bennett said, "with the balance there is in this league, that would be an accomplishment."

Beating 14th-ranked Whitewater was a remarkable accomplishment on this night.

The Pointers had lost to Whitewater by 10 points earlier this season and only a few hours before tip-off lost sophomore forward Nick Bennett, who aggravated a balky lower back during the shoot-around.

Bennett, the son of the Pointers' coach, entered the night second on the team in scoring (13.2 points), first in the conference in three-point shooting (51.7%) and second in the conference in field-goal shooting (61.3%).

Freshman forward Brian Bauer replaced Bennett and in his first start contributed a college-high 15 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists in 36 minutes.

"I just wanted to go in there and keep the level of play the same, not let my teammates down," said Bauer, a former star at Auburndale High School.

Instead, Bauer lifted his teammates. He buried a midrange jumper just 16 seconds into the game to open the scoring. Then with the Warhawks still within seven points, he made three free throws after being fouled while attempting a three-pointer with 3 minutes 36 seconds left.

"A kid like Brian Bauer plays with such poise," Jack Bennett said. "I thought that was contagious."

Senior center Josh Iserloth led Point with 18 points. Junior guard Neal Krajnik hit nine of 10 free-throw attempts and finished with 17 points.

Whitewater got 21 points from senior center Aubrey Lewis-Byers but little else. The Warhawks made just 4 of 20 three-pointers, 20 of 55 field-goal attempts overall and generally weren't strong enough with the ball in traffic.

"Early on we took some quick perimeter shots," Whitewater coach Pat Miller said. "But (after that), the shots we took were good shots and we just didn't make them."

As a result, Point has the best shot to add more hardware to its trophy case.

"We're feeling pretty good," Krajnik said, "but we've still got some games."