It came down to the final 10 minutes this time but the script remained unchanged.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville did just about everything right while UW-Stevens Point saw just about everything go wrong during those defining minutes of semi-final showdown in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament here on Wednesday night.

Leading 43-37 with 10:20 remaining, UW-SP scored just two points the rest of the way while Platteville, taking command with a 12-0 run, went on to post a 57-45 victory at Williams Fieldhouse.

The victory advanced No. 1 seed Platteville (24-2), the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III Midwest Region, into the championship game on Saturday night against UW-Stout, which surprised No. 3 seed UW-Oshkosh at the Kolf Sports Center last night, 85-82.

The defeat ended a 15-11 season for UW-SP which came on strong the last month of the season and threw a major scare into UW-P before fading down the stretch.

"Our effort and execution were every bit as good as we had here two years ago, except for the last six minutes or so," said Point coach Jack Bennett, referring to his team’s 46-43 upset win over Platteville in the NCAA tourney. "It had that same feel to it."

That history did not repeat, Bennett felt, was due to a combination of his team faltering and coach Bo Ryan’s Pioneers stepping up to make big plays.

While UW-SP made only one of its last 12 shots, the Pioneers got several key baskets for Merrill Brunson and Blake Knutson, then sealed the victory at the free throw line, sinking 10 in a row during the 20-2 run which closed the contest.

"They played great defense and maybe it was a case of our wanting it too much," Bennett said. "We missed some makeable shots that we had been putting in earlier. But Platteville’s key players just stepped it up a notch and made big plays."

With junior Brant Bailey exploding inside and senior Derek Westrum excelling on both ends, the Pointers seemed to have the Pioneers on the ropes for the first 10 minutes of the second half.

UW-SP scored 20 points during that stretch while holding UW-P to 13. The Pointers were following the game plan to perfection – taking care of the ball, playing good defense, both in the man-for-man and 1-3-1 zone, holding their own on the boards, getting good shots and making about 50 percent of their attempts.

That’s when the roof caved in, with Platteville’s 12-0 run reminiscent of a 15-0 run during a four-minute stretch early in the second half of the last meeting here between the rivals on Feb. 6. That surge snapped a 34-34 deadlock and , for all practical purposes, decided the outcome.

Westrum’s lay-in with 2:05 left finally ended the Pointers’ scoring famine and closed the gap to 49-45. UW-SP, however, was in a situation where it had to foul after missing shots and failing to come up with any offensive rebounds.

Brunson’s lay-in with 1:45 left made it 51-45 and Brian Murphy and Aaron Olson combined to nail six straight free throws in the final 1:07 to assure the win.

A 3-point basket, only one by either team up to that time, with four seconds left enabled the Pointers to gain a 23-22 lead after a nip-and-tuck first half.

UW-SP, however, made just 10 of 25 shots in the second half while Platteville sank 11 of 20. The Pioneers were almost perfect at the foul line, converting 19 of 20 while the Pointers were just 3 of 7.

Neither team had much success from 3-point range, Platteville hitting just 1 of 14 and Stevens Point 2 of 10.

Brunson, taking advantage of foul problems experienced by Pointer freshman Kalonji Kadima, scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half. Knutson added 12, Aaron Olson 11 and Mike Jones 10.

Jones also led UW-P to a 28-22 rebounding advantage by coming down with 13.

Bailey led UW-SP with 17 points and six rebounds. Westrum, playing the final game of his UW-SP career, contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. UW-SP had 12 turnovers to UW-P’s 9.

Bennett said the coaching staff and their players are sorry to see their season come to a close. "We’re hurting now because we have been playing our best basketball of the season during the past month or so," he said. "Anybody who wins this conference tournament has a legitimate shot at winning the Division III national championship and we were just taking things one step at a time trying to keep this going."

"I’m disappointed but certainly not discouraged. Our final record may not get anybody excited but this team has come as far in the last month as any I’ve ever coached. They hung together so well and we got great leadership from Derek."