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Pointers Get in
the Zone to Roll Past Titans
Box Score
When the other team is in a zone, sometimes the
best move is to go into one of your own.
As UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a quick early lead,
the UW-Stevens Point men�s basketball team switched to a zone defense and
stifled the Titans the rest of the way in rolling to a 69-44 victory on
Tuesday at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
The Titans opened up a 13-2 lead and led 18-7 with
10:12 left in the first half when UW-Stevens Point tried to slow UW-Oshkosh
with the zone. The move paid huge dividends with the Pointers forcing six
straight missed shots and four turnovers while scoring 14 straight points to
take the lead and closing the half with a 24-5 run for a 31-23 halftime
lead.
UW-Oshkosh chipped away at the lead in the second
half and closed to within 39-36 on a basket by Jim Capelle. Kyle Grusczynski
followed with a three-pointer to put the Pointers ahead 42-36 before another
Capelle basket cut the deficit to four points with 12:12 remaining.
UW-Stevens Point went back to the zone defense and
took over from that point, outscoring the Titans 18-1 over the next eight
minutes and holding UW-Oshkosh without a field goal until 35 seconds
remained in the game as the Titans missed 10 straight shots. Leading 48-38
with 8:07 left, Grusczynski hit another big three-pointer for the Pointers
to push the lead to 13 points.
The Pointers also put the game away at the free
throw line, hitting all 16 attempts for the game and all nine in the second
half.
UW-Stevens Point held UW-Oshkosh�s top two
scorers, Capelle and Andy Jahnke, to a combined 13 points on five-for-20
shooting, including one-for-10 from three-point range. The pair entered the
game averaging a combined 32 points per game, however, were stymied by a
Pointers� defense that leads the NCAA Division III in scoring defense at
51.6 points per game.
The Pointers also rank second in the country in
field goal percentage defense and held the Titans to just 34.8 percent,
including two-for-16 three-point shooting. UW-Stevens Point shot 46.9
percent from the field, including 54.2 percent in the second half.
Jason Kalsow had 22 points, seven rebounds and
five assists to lead the Pointers, while Nick Bennett added 21 points with
three three-pointers. Seven-foot-one center Kerry Gibson paced the Titans
with a career-high 18 points along with six rebounds.
UW-Stevens Point is ranked No. 1 in the latest
Division III rankings by D3hoops.com, while UW-Oshkosh was ranked 25th. |
