|
Pointers Right
Ship with Win Over Titans
By Jerry Rhoden
Stevens Point Journal
Original Article
Box Score
Three losses in four games
made the Pointers take stock in what had propelled them to four straight
conference championships.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh didn't like what they found.
The UWSP men uncorked an aggressiveness that had eluded them in their recent
downturn and rode the renewed mental wave to a 68-53 win over UW-Oshkosh on
Wednesday.
UWSP's win dropped UWO from its tie with UW-Whitewater atop the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and planted the defending-champion
Pointers squarely back in the mix, one game behind Whitewater.
"We played exactly the way we practiced," UWSP coach Jack Bennett said.
"We've seen that all week in practice. Nick (Bennett) was aggressive, Brian
Bauer was aggressive ... against Oshkosh, that was the route we had to go."
That attitude helped the
Pointers (13-3, 5-3 WIAC) derail a trend of rebounding domination enjoyed by
the Titans (11-6, 5-3 WIAC), who had pulled down no fewer than 31 rebounds
in any game this season and have outrebounded all but three teams they've
faced. UWSP outrebounded UWO 29-24. That included 12 offensive boards, up
from four against UW-Superior on Saturday.
Bennett led the Pointers with seven rebounds, the second time this season
he's logged a team-high in the category.
Jason Kalsow scored a game-high 24 points, one of five Pointers in double
figures, and the 11th time he's led the Pointers in scoring.
"We haven't had to face losing a couple of games in a row," Kalsow said.
"Now we just have to climb back up."
Eric Maus put up 13, and
Bennett and Bauer - in his first start since the season finale - added 10
apiece.
"We emphasized it in practice," Maus said of the team's decisiveness on the
glass. "Be as aggressive as possible. They're a very good rebounding team.
We had to match that and take it to another level."
But the means to that end wasn't necessarily easy to pinpoint.
"If I knew the answer to that, we would've won the game," UWO coach Ted Van
Dellen said. "His team responded the way he wanted it to. Kalsow got a
little more support from his supporting cast. "And we let them get some easy
shots."
While the Pointers at
times struggled to get easy tip-ins to fall, they made the most of the
Titans' 17 turnovers.
"Have you seen our roster?" Van Dellen posed, referring to a youth-laden
lineup devoid of seniors and with just two juniors. "You get that, we're
going to go through some growing pains."
Freshmen Jim Capelle and
Kerry Gibson - a 7-foot-1 center - led the Titans with 16 and 11 points,
respectively.
|
