By Don Friday of the Stevens Point Journal

The University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point men's basketball team is locked in what might be called the Overtime Syndrome.

After winning back-to-back double overtime games at home, the Pointers took their show on the road Saturday night, with the same result.

The only difference was that this time UWSP needed just a single extra period to turn back stubborn UW - River Falls, 90-80, before 250 fans at Karges Center.

The victory enabled the Pointers to grab sole possession of second place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UWSP, which has gone into overtime in three of its last four outings, is now 6-3 in the WIAC and 14-4 overall with a home game against UW - La Crosse on Wednesday at 7 p.m. next on the schedule.

UW - Whitewater (5-4, 11-6), which had shared second place with the Pointers and UW - Oshkosh (5-3, 14-3), lost at UW - Eau Claire, 82-81.

"This is one of the greatest stretches of basketball I've ever seen a team go through," said UWSP coach Jack Bennett. "When games go down to the stretch or to overtime, this team believes to a man they will find a way to win. A lot of teams dream of developing that kind of confidence, but the only way you can get it done is by coming through under fire."

River Falls (4-5, 11-7) opened leads as high as 10 points in the early going. By halftime, however, UWSP closed the gap to 32-31 on Derek Westrum's jumper with 38 seconds left.

Neither team came close to taking command in the second half, although the Falcons seemed in good shape with a 67-62 lead and just 2:44 remaining.

Brant Bailey, who has come on strong in recent weeks, scored underneath, Dan Denniston nailed a 3-point jumper and sophomore Gabe Frank sank two pressure free throws to tie the game at 67-67 with 2:05 left.

Chad Meschke's two free throws at 1:02 put the Falcons back on top but the Pointers scored on a Brant Bailey dunk with 49 seconds left to create the final tie. UWSP got the ball back with 15.1 seconds to play and a chance to win the game in regulation, but Russ Austin's hurried jumper at the buzzer was off the mark.

The five-minute extra period was all Stevens Point, which nailed seven of nine shots in outscoring River Falls, 21-11.

The Pointers shot a blistering 64.8 percent on 35 of 54, including 8 of 18 from beyond the arc. The 6-7 Bailey continued to sparkle with a career-high 24 points (five in OT) and five rebounds. He was 9 of 11 from the field.

"Brant is really on a roll," Bennett said. "We always knew he could score but he is now starting to become a complete player. He's just very athletic."

Denniston, who hit 5 of 9 treys and handed out seven assists, added 17 points (six in OT), Joe Zuiker finished with 15 points on 7 of 8 shooting and 5 rebounds and Westrum contributed 12 points and six rebounds.

Meschke, a 6-2 senior, led the Falcons with 25 points, 16 of which came in the second half and overtime.

"This was a swing game for our season," Bennett said. "We delivered a damaging blow to River Falls' hopes of finishing second and took care of business in a difficult arena."