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Pointers Remain in
Title Hunt With Comeback Win
Box Score
The odds couldn�t have been stacked much higher
against the UW-Stevens Point men�s basketball team on Saturday in Menomonie.
Facing an 18-point deficit with under 13 minutes
remaining against the nation�s 12th-ranked team, UW-Stout, was just the
start of it. The Pointers also had to overcome playing without senior leader
Brian Bauer, who had 29 points in the first meeting between the teams, and
were coming off a similar lopsided loss to UW-Whitewater on Wednesday.
However, the Pointers persevered, outscoring the
Blue Devils 15-4 over the final 7:25 and getting a huge lift from a youthful
bench to complete a miraculous 69-68 comeback victory and remain in the hunt
for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.
Freshman Drew Jackson, who had scored 25 points
all season, scored a career-high 11 points, including a three-point play
with 54 seconds left and the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds left to
give the Pointers the victory.
�I couldn�t be prouder of what these guys
accomplished,� Pointers� coach Bob Semling said. �We could have easily
folded in the second half, but they hung with it. I told our guys on the
bench that someone was going to have to step up and fill Brian�s shoes and
they all did.�
UW-Stevens Point is now 15-8 overall and 10-4 in
the WIAC, sitting just one game behind first place UW-Whitewater. UW-Stout
entered the day as the league�s first place team and fell to 18-5 overall
and 11-4 in the conference.
The Pointers shot just 28.6 percent from the field
and two-for-14 from three-point range in the first half, but had one
turnover to remain in the game with a 31-23 halftime deficit. The Blue
Devils extended the lead in the second half and went ahead 53-35 on a jumper
by Brian Buck with 13:07 remaining.
UW-Stevens Point�s comeback was jumpstarted by a
pair of three-pointers from freshman Bryan Beamish, whose second long range
shot brought the Pointers to within 59-50 with 9:12 left. Jackson converted
four straight free throws to bring the Pointers to within seven points with
6:55 left, but Adam Chandler followed with a three-pointer to put UW-Stout
ahead 64-54 with 7:25 left.
Freshman Jerome Wotachek hit a basket and
back-to-back free throws and Steve Hicklin followed with a jumper to cut the
lead to 64-61 with four minutes to play. Chandler again hit a shot to put
the Blue Devils back up by five points in the final two minutes, but
freshman Khalifa El-Amin drained a three-pointer to bring the Pointers back
within 66-64 with 1:35 remaining.
Jon Krull rebounded a missed free throw by the
Blue Devils and then recorded a huge offensive rebound on the other end,
setting up Jackson for a three-point play and the Pointers� first lead since
the first six minutes of the game. UW-Stout answered with a basket from Greg
Chaisson to go back ahead 68-67 with 25 seconds left.
The Pointers worked the ball around the perimeter
and got it inside to Krull, who was double-teamed and found a wide open
Jackson for just his 13th basket of the season, but one of the team�s
biggest of the year. Wotachek tipped the Blue Devils� full-court pass
attempt in the final second as the Pointers escaped with the win.
Hicklin had a game-high 16 points, while Krull had
10 points, nine rebounds and five assists. The Pointers shot just 39.3
percent for the game, but committed only five turnovers. UW-Stevens Point�s
three freshman bench players � Jackson, Beamish and Wotachek � totaled 25
points and El-Amin added six points in just his second career start.
Chandler led five players in double figures with
13 points for the Blue Devils. |
