By Don Friday of the Stevens Point Journal

 The defensive bar, already high, was raised to a new level by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s basketball team Saturday night.

Holding a UW-Superior team which came in averaging 71.4 points per game to 17 points in each half, the Pointers pulled away to an impressive 61-34 victory before 823 fans at Quandt Fieldhouse.

The fourth straight win boosted UW-SP to 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, good for sole possession of second place, and 11-2 overall.

The loss dropped the Yellowjackets of Jeff Kaminsky, former coach at Mid-State Tech in Wisconsin Rapids, to respective marks of 2-2 and 7-4.

UW-SP faces a major road hurdle at UW-Whitewater (2-1, 8-3) on Wednesday night. Despite the final 27 point margin, it was a close game until the final 16 minutes when the Pointers started clicking on all cylinders on offense, then totally frustrated the Jackets with their air-tight defense.

When UW-SP also took control of the boards, the outcome was no longer in doubt and gave coach Jack Bennett the luxury of using all of his bench in the final five minutes.

"Our defense was solid from start to finish," Bennett said. "We can’t depend on individual quickness, although we have some of that, but we’ve reached the point where the kids know that they can depend on each other. The help is always there."

Bennett said the Pointers, who have played some superb basketball on the road, wanted to impress the hometown fans as well.

"We wanted to come out and play hard, sound basketball, doing things the way they ought to be done," he said. "I think our fans appreciate quality, effort and unselfishness. We had to play well together because Superior has a lot of quick players with athletic ability. And Jeff has them playing aggressively."

After using a late 7-0 run to open a 24-17 halftime lead, the Pointers made their move. Leading by just 27-23 four minutes into the second half, UW-SP went on a 12-2 run, sparked by deadly outside shooting from Russ Austin and Dan Denniston and inside baskets by Dave Grzesk and Joe Zuiker.

Trailing 39-25, Superior made a final move, closing the gam to 10 points with 10:40 left on two baskets by 6-6 leaper Vince Thomas.

During the last 9:18, however, the Pointers dominated in every aspect of the game. UW-SP went on a 15-0 run which increased the lead to 25 points at 54-29 with 3:27 remaining. The Jackets, who made only 6 of 27 second half shots, failed to score for seven minutes and 34 seconds.

Brant Bailey, a promising 6-7 sophomore, scored eight of his 13 points in the second half. Austin, quiet the first half, exploded for 12 points after the break while nailing five of his seven attempts, including a pair of treys. Thirteen of the 14 players used by Bennett broke into the scoring column.

"I got some great looks when the other guys penetrated and dished the ball back to me," said Austin, a 6-2 senior from Beloit. "But defense is the heart and soul of this team and will determine how far we go."

"This is a very close knit team, both on and off the court. We are like a family. And that shows up in how we play. We were in the gaps for each other defensively all night."

Bennett felt two of the keys to the outcome were the jobs done defensively by Grzesk on Superior’s top scorer, Shane Peterson, and Derek Westrum on Thomas. Grzesk also contributed six points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Peterson, averaging 12.3, made 2 of 12 shots for four points. Thomas, averaging 12.1 points and 10.0 rebounds, was held to six points and five boards as UW-S had nobody score in double figures.

"David is always there and in position to defend," Bennett said. "Derek sacrificed himself on offense and concentrated on keeping Thomas off the boards."

Superior shot just 24 percent for the game and missed all 15 shots from 3-point range. UW-SP shot a modest 40 percent from the field but sank 5 of 14 shots from beyond the arc, won the rebound battle, 41-37, led in assists, 18-7, and forced 21 turnovers.

"We didn’t hit a lot of 3 pointers but sometimes it is not so much how many as when they come," Bennett said. "Jay (Bennett) had a big one in the first half and then Russ and Dan hit some big ones later."