"It definitely is one of the best we’ve had."

That was Jack Bennett’s reaction after watching his University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s basketball team record one of its biggest victories of the season, 70-65, over UW-Oshkosh at the Kolf Sports Center on Wednesday night.

The win, which snapped a three-game losing streak at the hands of the Titans, improved UW-SP to 6-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 12-9 overall. The Pointers play at first place UW-Plateville, an upset loser at the hands of UW-Eau Claire last night, on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The defeat dropped the Titans and coach Ted Van Dellen to 8-5 in the WIAC and 14-7 overall.

The Pointers won the game with about a nine-minute stretch of excellent basketball in the second half.

UW-SP, which held a 28-27 half-time lead, was tied with the Titans, 46-46, with 10:11 remaining.

The Pointers then staged a 14-2 run which opened a 60-48 advantage with just 1:45 left in the game. The surge was lead by sophomore guard Jay Bennett and senior captain Derek Westrum, each of whom contributed six points.

UW-SP still had some anxious moments, however, mainly because of four consecutive missed free throws.

Oshkosh, sparked by guards Paul Jonas and Justin Kamps, closed to within 60-55 with 1:20 showing before two free throws by Bennett, one by Westrum and a lay-in by Nate Vosters opened a 65-55 advantage with 39 seconds to play.

"It’s extremely hard to keep your resolve and unity through the rough times we’ve experienced lately, but this group has been able to do that," coach Bennett said. "We’ve basically did the things we felt we had to do coming in."

"That included being intense on defense, doing the job on the boards, taking care of the ball and getting decent shots and holding together when they made some runs at us. The only thing we wavered a little on was taking care of the ball. I’m never happy when we turn it over 18 times."

The Pointers outshot Oshkosh, which had 17 turnovers, from the field and held a 29-25 rebounding edge. UW-SP fired away at a 54 percent clip on 25 of 46 while UW-O managed just 45.5 percent on 20 of 44. The Titans, however, had a 6-2 advantage in 3-point baskets. Both teams did well at the line with the Pointers converting 18 of 25 and the Titans 19 of 26.

Other keys to the win were a strong showing by the Pointers’ bench and an excellent defensive job by Brant Bailey against the Titans’ Brad Clark, who came in as the leading scorer in the WIAC.

Non-starters contributed 17 points while Bailey limited Clark to seven shots and 12 points, more than six under his average, In addition, Clark got into foul trouble, picking up his fifth with 3:45 left to play.

UWSP needed positive play from the bench because both Bailey and Kadima picked up their fourth fouls midway through the second half.

"Our bench play was superb," said coach Bennett, referring to contributions made in particular by jay Bennett ( 11 points, 3 assists ), Joe Zuiker ( 6 points, 4 rebounds ), and Travis Kornowski ( 4 rebounds ). "We are trying to stretch ourselves."

The Pointers had four players reach double figures. Kadima, who sank 7 of 8 shots, had 16 points in 22 minutes. Bailey also had 16, while 11 each were contributed by Jay Bennett and Westrum.

Jonas and Aaron Harding had 14 points each for Oshkosh while Kamps added 10. 6-8, 250-pound junior Keith Meyer, who played a key role in the Titan’s earlier 58-50 win by scoring 18 points, was a non-factor, managing just three points and two rebounds in 27 minutes.