|
Hot Shooting Leads
Pointers to WIAC Tournament Title
Box Score
UW-Stevens Point shot over 60 percent in each half
to clinch its second Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
tournament title and first since 2000 with a 68-50 win over UW-Platteville
on Saturday at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
The Pointers got 17 points from junior center Eric
Maus and junior forward Nick Bennett added 16 points as UW-Stevens Point
earned its third NCAA Division III tournament berth in five years. The
Pointers are now 22-5 overall and ranked 14th in the Division III rankings.
The game was tight for the first eight minutes
with UW-Stevens Point holding a 15-14 lead, however, the Pioneers hit just
one of their next eight field goal attempts as the Pointers went on an 11-2
run over the next 8:42 to take a 26-16 lead. UW-Platteville cut the lead to
seven at 31-24 at halftime, but came no closer in the second half.
After the Pioneers hit a free throw to open the
half, Jon Krull hit a pair of layups to push the UW-Stevens Point lead back
to 10 points. UW-Platteville trailed 35-28 with 16:25 left when the Pointers
used a 10-2 run to take control of the game at 45-30 capped by a three-point
play by Maus.
The Pioneers had the lead down to 47-34 with nine
minutes left, but missed their next seven shots and fell down by 22 points before finally making another field goal with 2:39 remaining.
UW-Stevens Point shot 61.9 percent in the first
half and 64.7 percent after halftime to finish at 63.2 percent for the game.
UW-Platteville shot 37.0 percent, including just 29.2 percent in the second
half.
Pioneers� senior guard Brad Reitzner finished with
15 points on four-for-13 shooting � all from three-point range.
UW-Platteville ends its season with a 16-12 record and made its first WIAC
title game appearance since winning the title in 1999.
UW-Stevens Point will learn of its first round
NCAA tournament pairing on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. |
