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Bennett Moves to
Third on All-Time Victory List
By Jerry Rhoden
Central Wisconsin Sunday
Original
Article
Box Score
STEVENS POINT - One
milestone down, at least one more to go.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men got 20 points and nine
rebounds from Jason Kalsow and outlasted an early and methodical offensive
barrage to top UW-La Crosse 70-61 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference matchup Saturday at Quandt Fieldhouse.
Nick Bennett added 16 points, point guard Neal Krajnik came off the bench to
contribute 10, and the team turned the ball over just five times.
The win tied UWSP head coach Jack Bennett with predecessor Bob Parker for
third on the school's all-time win list with 158, though Kalsow fell six
points shy of becoming the 24th Pointer to hit the 1,000-point mark.
"We knew they would run a nice motion, and we knew No. 34 would make a
difference," Bennett said of La Crosse freshman Joe Werner, who didn't play
basketball last season but led the Eagles with 22 points Saturday.
Kalsow had his chances, but the 6-foot-7 junior forward went an
uncharacteristic 5-of-18 from the field and 9-of-14 at the foul line. Most
of his misses came from close range; his familiar post position.
"I've got to get back into my routine," he said. "When we ran our motion and
didn't throw it up there early, we got to the foul line a lot."
Starting Tamaris Relerford ahead of regular starter Krajnik was a "gut
instinct" according to Jack Bennett. Krajnik has been nursing a sore foot,
and both played extensive minutes anyway, giving the Pointers the quick
lineup they needed to combat that of La Crosse.
UWSP (16-3, 7-3 WIAC) went 17-of-23 at the foul line compared to 10-of-14
for La Crosse, which saw both a beginning and an end of sorts.
It was the first return visit to Quandt by new Eagles coach Ken Koelbl, who
was a Pointer assistant for eight seasons through last year. And it was
likely the final homecoming for Stevens Point Area Senior High alumnus and
senior Eagles standout Casey Taggatz, who scored 18 points. La Crosse (7-13,
0-11 WIAC) would need wins in four of its final five games to qualify for
the WIAC Tournament, which right now would be hosted by UW-Whitewater by
virtue of its league-best 9-2 record.
"I always enjoy playing here," Taggatz said. "To come back and play with
guys I know, I have a lot of family in the stands ... and play against one
of the best teams in the nation.
"The atmosphere is great here; always has been."
Koelbl could have been
forgiven had he walked into the wrong locker room.
"When you're in the building you've been in eight years, it's odd," he said
of donning the "other" colors. "Once the ball went up, you just try to
compete."
And compete they did,
hitting their first six shots and 13-of-18 off the bat, and hitting 60.5
percent for the game. That's an improvement of 21 percentage points from the
Eagles' season average.
"This is the best we've played from start to finish," Koelbl said.
La Crosse played UWSP to a 21-all tie with 8:49 to play in the first half
before a Kalsow free throw sparked a quick eight-point run. Freshman Jon
Krull scored five of those points before leaving with a sore hip.
The Eagles never really went away, closing to within six points with 4:15 to
play. Down nine with 5:28 left, however, Bennett hit a momentum-stealing
3-pointer.
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