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River Falls
Avenges Loss to UW-Stevens Point
Stevens Point Journal Staff
Original
Article
Box Score
RIVER FALLS - It may have
been as simple as their number being up.
But that number may not have been so much the 34 on Rich Melzer's jersey as
the 12 on Chris Becker's.
Melzer scored a game-high 25 points, and Becker went 5-of-6 from 3-point
range as the University of Wisconsin-River Falls held off UW-Stevens Point
70-59 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup Tuesday.
The Pointers (16-4, 7-4 WIAC) had beaten River Falls (14-6, 7-4 WIAC) 18
straight times. But the Pointers had held Melzer to seven points and Becker
scoreless in a 56-38 win Dec. 3.
"They're a very mature team," UWSP coach Jack Bennett said of a River Falls
lineup that started four seniors Tuesday. "We played decent defensively but
not with the passion that we have been. Melzer was out to prove something
tonight."
The 6-foot-8 senior with
NBA aspirations hasn't scored fewer than 21 points in a game since Dec. 3,
and Becker's hot hand may have been just the additive to swirl the Pointers
out of the mix for a fifth straight WIAC championship.
To score a fifth straight title, the Pointers in all likelihood will need to
win out. That would include a win over league-leading UW-Whitewater, and
they'll hope the Warhawks fall to the most likely candidates Oshkosh or
River Falls.
Whitewater (9-2 WIAC) will host Lakeland in a nonconference game tonight.
Platteville (8-4 WIAC) beat Oshkosh 63-55 Tuesday and will visit Quandt
Fieldhouse for the Pointers' Alumni Day on Saturday.
"I don't know if it's us, or if other teams are playing so well," Bennett
said. "Melzer is a handful, and he got great contributions from his role
players."
Falls led from the first
basket and got out front to stay with a 7-0 run early in the first half. The
Falcons pulled ahead by as many 16 points in the second half.
Jason Kalsow score 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, both Pointer-highs.
Nick Bennett scored 13, and the rest of the team's contributions came from
the bench.
Kyle Grusczynski scored 11 points, his second double-digit effort of the
season and highest total since a 15-point night at Platteville on Jan. 10.
"Kyle really came out of his shell tonight," Jack Bennett said. "Jon Krull
has a real nose for the ball, and Tamaris (Relerford) played well, too."
Krull, a freshman, scored
six points and grabbed three rebounds, and Relerford added five points and
four rebounds.
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