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Pointers Hold Off
Titans to Stay in Title Hunt
UW-Stevens Point lived to play for a chance at a fifth consecutive
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men�s basketball
championship, but by the narrowest of margins.
The Pointers held a 20-point halftime lead at UW-Oshkosh on Tuesday
night only to have the Titans battle back before hanging on for a 63-61
victory as Andy Fernholz�s short jumper in the lane rimmed out as time
expired.
UW-Stevens Point is now 20-4 overall and in a three-way tie atop the
WIAC with an 11-4 conference record. The Pointers, tied with UW-River Falls
and UW-Whitewater for first place, will host UW-Superior on Saturday at 3
p.m. and would become the fourth team in conference history to claim five
straight titles with a victory. If all three teams win, the Pointers would
be the second seed for the upcoming WIAC tournament. They need a victory and
UW-River Falls to lose to UW-Platteville in order to gain the top seed.
UW-Stevens Point�s last 45 victories had all been by nine points or
more and the Pointers beat the Titans for the third time this season. Having
also played in the finals of the Las Vegas tournament, the game marked the
first time the teams played three times in a regular season since 1929-30
and the first time the Pointers have beaten a team three times in a regular
season since sweeping UW-La Crosse in 1981-82.
The Pointers used a red-hot first half to open up a 44-24 lead at
intermission. After making just one of its first five shots, UW-Stevens
Point made 16 of its last 20 attempts of the half including nine straight at
one point. The Pointers shot 68.0 percent in the first half and appeared to
be comfortably ahead, but were held to a season-low 19 points in the second
half.
Both teams started the second half slow with the Pointers holding a
48-29 lead with 15:22 remaining. However, the Titans scored the next seven
points and started whittling away at the deficit. After UW-Oshkosh cut the
lead to seven points with 7:35 left, the Pointers pushed the lead back to 11
at 58-47 on two free throws with 6:05 left.
UW-Oshkosh�s Jim Capelle hit back-to-back deep three-pointers from
about five feet above the top of the lane and then set up Pete Warning for a
three-point play on the next possession to pull the Titans to within 60-56
with 3:56 remaining.
Following a missed shot by the Pointers, UW-Oshkosh�s Chad Doedens
had a putback and was fouled to cut the lead to 60-59 with 3:24 left. Kalsow
scored on a short turnaround jumper in the lane on the Pointers� next
possession for a three-point lead.
Neither team scored again until Warning cut the lead to one on a
rebound basket with 14 seconds left. Pointers� senior Neal Krajnik made
one of two free throws with 10 seconds left before Fernholz drove the length
of the court, made a move into the lane and missed a six-foot shot at the
buzzer.
Kalsow had 23 points, six assists and six rebounds to lead the
Pointers, who have won eight of their last nine games and won their third
road game in eight days. It was the first time the Pointers have swept all
three games of a conference road swing since 1985-86. Junior Eric Maus had
14 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Capelle had 15
points and David Gershenzon added 14 for the Titans.
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