WESLEYAN HAS ANSWER FOR UWSP
By Don Friday of the Stevens Point Journal

It wasn't that the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team ran out of miracles in NCAA Division III post-season play, just a case of Nebraska Wesleyan coming up with one.

The season ended in heartbreak for the Pointers here on Saturday night when Mitch Mosser, a 6-foot4 junior guard from Ralston, Neb., sank a tough 3-point jumper from the left wing with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Plainsmen a pulsating 69-66 victory in the championship game of the West Regional before 1,940 screaming fans at Snyder Arena.

Mosser's clutch shot foiled an amazing comeback by the Pointers, who fought back from a 61-48 deficit with 6:50 remaining to gain a 66-66 tie on two pressure-packed free throws by Mike Paynter with 7.2 seconds remaining.

The victory advances Wesleyan (24-5), which had the advantage of playing all four postseason games on its home court, to the Final Four at Salem, Va., Friday and Saturday.

The defeat, which snapped a nine-game winning streak, concluded a banner 22-7 season for UWSP in Coach Jack Bennett's first year at the helm. The Pointers were the last NCAA team in the state to be eliminated.

"In all my year of coaching, I've never seen a team play as close to its potential as this one over the last third of the season," Bennett said. "This is also the most courageous group of young men I've ever been associated with."

"We were able to execute our offense in the most hostile of basketball environments and under great pressure from a very good basketball team."

With the crowd noise reaching a fever pitch, the Plainsmen, leading 45-42, erupted for a 16-6 run which opened a 13-point lead.

Wesleyan and its partisans may have figured the Pointers were left for dead. Instead, after a Bennett timeout, UWSP stormed back with an 18-5 run of its own. Behind the deadly 3-point shooting of senior Jim Danielson and junior guard Den Denniston and the inside skills of senior Paynter.

Danielson's fifth trey of the night, fired from the left angle, closed the Wesleyan lead to 66-64 with 56 seconds left. Mosser then missed an outside shot and the Pointers rebounded. The ball was worked inside to Paynter, who was fouled and hit two free throws.

The Pointers had a foul to waste and took it as Denniston bumped Mosser in the backcourt. The Plainsmen then got a pass in to Mosser from halfcourt with about five seconds left. He took the ball on the run quickly into the front court and launched his game-winner which hit nothing but net against heavy defensive pressure from Denniston.

After a time out, all UWSP could do was fire a long pass into the front court which was tipped away and recovered by the Plainsmen as the game ended.

"We were supposed to run a 1-47 low offense but we never got into it," Mosser said. "I got a step on the guy guarding me when I faked a move into the back court. That allowed me to take the pass on the run. I got up into the air with my eyes locked on the rim and knew right away it was going in."

Eight-year Wesleyan coach Todd Riordan praised the Pointers for extending his powerhouse to the limit.

"They deserve a tremendous amount of credit," he said. "All year they have been mentally tough, especially the way they got here by knocking off three seeded teams away from home. They are the toughest team we've faced as a road opponent."

"I didn't want to take a timeout after Paynter made those free throws because I knew that would give them a chance to come up with a set defense. Mitch just created on his own and made a great shot."

"It was just a great game by both teams. This is a special group of young men who have put a lot of hard work into the program. Everything just fell into place for us and there's no question it was a huge advantage for us to play all four games at home. I'd like to thank Stevens Point for beating Platteville and making that possible."

As has been their road pattern, the Pointers got off to a fast start and, when Paynter slammed the ball home with 6:47 left in the first half, UWSP had a 27-21 lead.

The Plainsmen, however, used three straight baskets by a 6-5 sophomore Chad Ideus to quickly tie the score and, with Paynter on the bench with two fouls and Dave Grzesk sidelined with a broken nose, courtesy of an elbow under the basket, NWU took advantage to gain a 33-30 intermission lead.

Paynter and Danielson concluded their collegiate careers with big performances.

Paynter scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half. He hit 6 of 9 shot and had four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Danielson nailed 5 of 8 trey attempts for 15 points, three coming in the second half, and pulled down five rebounds.

Derek Westrum contributed 13 points, nine in the first half, and grabbed eight rebounds. Denniston added 10 points and three assists and turned the ball over just twice in the two tournament games. Russ Austin, hero of the Pointers' semifinal win over Mount Union, struggled with his shot but still chipped in seven points and a game high nine assists.

The Pointers came up short despite posting impressive shooting numbers. UWSP was 53.3 percent from the field on 24 of 45 and sank from 9 of 19 shots from beyond the arc and 9 of 12 at the line.

Wesleyan, after hitting 13 of its first 17 shots in the second half, made just 3 of its last 10. The Plainsmen finished at 52.5 percent on 31 of 59 but made just 5 of 16 from long range and 2 of 5 free throws.

Mosser led NYU with 17 points and eight assists. The Nebraskans, who inflicted most of their damage inside, got a big game from Ideus who had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists.