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Pointers Dump
Warhawks to Stay in Title Chase
Box Score
WHITEWATER � Don�t count UW-Stevens Point
out from
winning its fifth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
men�s basketball championship just yet.
The four-time defending champs used stifling
defense and hot shooting to rout first place UW-Whitewater 79-59 and pull to
within one game of the Warhawks with three games to play.
UW-Stevens Point, ranked 12th in the NCAA Division
III, dominated from the outset, opening up an 8-2 lead and holding a 20-7
lead with 9:02 left in the first half as the Pointers held at least a
10-point lead the rest of the game. UW-Stevens Point also limited the
seventh-ranked Warhawks to a season-low point total and posted its biggest
win in Whitewater since a 61-38 triumph on Jan. 19, 1982.
Junior center Eric Maus contributed a career-high
18 points, including 14 in the second half. Freshman Jon Krull sparked the
Pointers� first half, scoring all 10 of his points before halftime in just
his second career start. Jason Kalsow led the Pointers with 22 points and
seven assists.
The Pointers shot 58.5 percent for the game and
held UW-Whitewater, the nation�s second-best shooting team, to just 41.5
percent, which was well below the 63.2 percent that the Warhawks shot in a
71-69 win in Stevens Point on Jan. 14.
UW-Stevens Point held a 39-23 halftime lead and
pushed the lead to 48-27 with 16:30 left before the Warhawks� best stretch
of the night. Melvin Williams and Ernest Williams hit back-to-back
three-pointers to spark an 8-0 run and cut the lead to 48-35, but Pointers�
senior guard Neal Krajnik hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to
give the Pointers a 54-37 lead with 12:34 left.
Matt Jones had 16 points to lead the Warhawks,
who are now 10-3 in the conference and host UW-River Falls on Saturday. The
Falcons and Pointers are tied for second place with 9-4 records. |
