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Early Deficit Too
Much for Pointers in Defeat
Box Score
A huge first half deficit was too much for the
UW-Stevens Point men�s basketball team to overcome Wednesday in a 79-64 loss
to UW-Whitewater at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
The Pointers fell behind by as many as 21 points
before halftime as the Warhawks posted the largest victory margin by a
visiting team at the Quandt Fieldhouse since UW-Platteville had a 94-56 win
on Feb. 22, 1995.
The two teams entered the night tied atop the loss
column in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-Whitewater
remained tied with UW-Stout with three losses as the Warhawks are now 16-5
overall and 10-3 in the WIAC. UW-Stevens Point fell to 14-8 overall and 9-4
in the conference and continues its tough stretch by playing at UW-Stout
Saturday.
The Pointers held an early 4-3 lead with 16:51
left in the first half, but missed their next eight shots as UW-Whitewater
went on a 14-0 run to take a 17-4 lead with 12:06 left. UW-Stevens Point�s
next made field goal didn�t come until 9:45 remained in the first half as
the Pointers shot 24.0 percent (six-for-25) in the first half.
The Warhawks, meanwhile, connected on 48.3 percent
of their first half shots and pushed the lead to 34-13 with 4:18 left in the
half before taking a 39-23 lead into intermission.
UW-Whitewater�s lead was back to 21 points at
50-29 with 11:39 left in the game before the Pointers began a spirited
comeback attempt. UW-Stevens Point made five straight shots and trimmed the
lead to 57-47 with 6:11 left. However, the Warhawks worked the shot clock
down on their ensuing possession and Jeremy Manchester found a wide open
Andy Freund for a layup as the lead went back to 12 points with 5:37 left.
Khalifa El-Amin hit back-to-back three-pointers
with 53 seconds left to get the Pointers within nine points at 73-64, but
the Warhawks made their final nine free throw attempts to seal the game.
Manchester had a huge night with 25 points and
five assists, including 10-for-10 free throw shooting. Melvin Williams added
17 points and Mike Toellner had 12 points � all coming from the free throw
line.
Jon Krull finished with 21 points to lead
UW-Stevens Point, which shot 41.2 percent in the second half to finish the
game at 33.9 percent. |
