The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s basketball team made all the right decisions in the final two minutes and 10 seconds of a game against UW-Whitewater Wednesday night.

The Pointers outscored the Warhawks, 15-5, during the crunch time and the result was a 74-62 victory at Quandt Fieldhouse.

"This was a huge win for us," said UW-SP coach Jack Bennett, whose club improved to 4-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 10-7 overall. It also atoned for a three point loss at Whitewater earlier in the season.

The defeat dropped the nationally ranked Warhawks, who were forced to play without senior scoring leader Tom Anderson and junior key reserve Adam LaBorde, to 6-3 in the WIAC and 13-3 overall.

"Anderson hurt his knee in practice Monday and LaBorde also has a bad knee," said longtime UW-W coach Dave Vander Meulen. "Both of them may be lost for the season."

"Since they both play the same position, we just couldn’t afford to lose them. Wee had to live on the outside all night and Point knew that, so they were able to take chances and extend their defense. We just didn’t get many good looks in the second half."

Bennett didn’t try to minimize the absence of Anderson, a Division I transfer from UW-Green Bay.

"Let me be the first to say that their not having Anderson had a huge impact on the game," Bennett said. " I know how that goes. But I thought a couple of their other veterans stepped it up."

Bennett felt there were two major factors in his team’s 41-29 second half advantage.

"I told the kids at the half that there was no way we could win if we didn’t do a better job on the boards and in pressuring the ball," he said. "We did a great job of both, got their two scoring guards a little tired. We were determined to make somebody else beat us."

The Warhawks’ offense was carried to a large extent by quick perimeter players Jaron Perry, who had 23 points and former Pointer Graham Diemer who added 19. IN the second half, however, Diemer made just 2 of 7 shots and Perry 3 for 9. Nobody else, especially on the interior, picked up the slack.

The Pointers had two huge baskets that loomed large in the final outcome.

The first was a running jumper from the left wing by Gabe Frank as the halftime horn sounded, giving UW-SP a 33-33 standoff. UW-W had led most of the half by margins as high as six points.

The second came after Whitewater, trailing 48-36 with 10:45 remaining, had closed the gap to 59-57 on a lay-in by Kevin Martin with 2:35 to play.

Brant Bailey, who had a monster half, scored underneath to make it 61-57.

With just 1:24 left and the shot clock about to expire, senior captain Derek Westrum took a pass from Nate Vosters in the deep corner and buried a 3-pointer to make it 64-57.

"That was the dagger in my heart," said Vander Muelen. "I think he had only taken three of those shots all season."

Westrum, who had a double-double with 11 points and a game high 13 rebounds, was aware of the situation.

"I knew the shot clock was running down and Nate did a good job of finding me open after he was double teamed," Westrum said. "I had good rhythm elevating to take the shot and really didn’t have time to think about it."

"We were flat footed and just standing around in the first half but then we all got on the boards and stepped it up. We have to find a way to get it done like this every game."

Westrum’s3-pointer forced the Hawks to throw up hurried shots which were off the mark, then foul on the rebounds.

The Pointers, who were 12 for 12 at the line in the second half, made eight in a row to seal the victory.

Bailey, coming off the bench for the second straight game, caught fire in the second half, tossing in 16 of his 18 points, including several thunderous slam dunks which ignited the crowd.

"I’d rather be starting but it’s what happens at the end that counts," said the junior from Wisconsin Dells. "Coach is just trying some different things now."

"They were doubling down on me a lot so I had to kick the ball out at times and the guards hit some big shots. I also had some good lead passes from the guards when I was able to isolate and get position on the block."

Frank led UW-SP with 19 points while nailing 7 of 11 shots. Vosters was also a key with nine points and seven assists.

After losing the rebound battle in the first half, 19-12, the Pointers came on to dominate the glass over the final 20 minutes, 21-10.

UW-SP also had a decisive advantage when it came to shooting accuracy. The Pointers connected on 26 of 52 overall and 7 of 17 from beyond the arc. UW-W, conversely was just 18 of 50 overall (.360) and 8 of 24 from long range.

Although the Hawks, who came in shooting just 58 percent from the line, outdid themselves by nailing 18 of 23, the Pointers also surpassed them in that category, swishing 15 of 17.

Bennett also pointer to the fact that his charges turned the ball over just 11 times against the pressuring, trapping UW-W defense.

"(Kalonji) Kadima grew up tonight," he said. "He was a much surer player. We’ve played everybody tough but now we are minimizing our down stretches and taking care of the ball better. Turning the ball over just 11 times against a team with that kind to quickness is remarkable."

Vander Muelen wasn’t pleased with the results of his team’s pressure.

"We had to get more from our press than we did," he said. "We just did not force the issue."