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UW-Stevens Point
Defeats Kalamazoo at Desert Classic
Stevens Point Journal
Original Article
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team
may have been a little overwhelmed by the city of Las Vegas, but when it
came time to step on the court, the Pointers had little problem getting
focused on the task at hand.
Led by a strong shooting performance by Nick Bennett, the Pointers (8-0)
rolled to a 70-52 victory over Kalamazoo on Sunday in the first round of the
two-day Adidas Division III Desert Shootout, which is being held on the
campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
"Obviously, it's sure hard to be totally focused in such a tremendous city
with all the glitz and glamour," said UWSP coach Jack Bennett. "To a certain
extent, I think we came out just a little bit slow, but we shot the ball
well and did a good job of leaning on our system."
Nick Bennett had no trouble getting going on offense, and poured in a
game-high 29 points for UWSP, which matched his career high. The junior hit
4-of-8 shots from the 3-point line, and connected on all nine of his shots
from the free throw line.
"Nick just had a great game for us offensively," said Dick Bennett. "He got
into a really good rhythm shooting the ball."
Junior Jason Kalsow also finished in double-digits, scoring 16 points as the
Pointers jumped out to a 38-24 halftime lead and held on for the victory,
with a total of 37.7 percent field goal shooting. Junior Tamaris Relerford
and sophomore Brian Bauer combined for 10 points coming off the bench, and
provided a spark for UWSP defensively.
Tim Herman led the Hornets (2-6) with 19 points. Kalamazoo lagged on
offense, recording 27.5 percent field goal shooting.
While being all the way across the country, the Pointers will be seeing a
familiar face when they take the court in today's championship game, which
will begin at 7:30 p.m. CST and can be heard on 97.9 WSPT-FM. UWSP will be
facing the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who defeated UTICA in the late
semifinal Sunday evening.
"We had two goals coming down here, to have fun time and take care of
business," said Bennett. "We definitely accomplished one of those goals, and
now we have to focus on the other. This game doesn't count in the WIAC, but
both of us are 2-0 so we're going to learn something about a good young
team." |
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