By DON FRIDAY of the Steven Point Journal

It came down to a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 20 seconds, neither of which would fall, for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Points men’s basketball team Wednesday night.

UW-Whitewater hung on to hand the Pointers a 68-65 defeat in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams at the Williams Center gym.

The defeat was the first of the season for UW-SP (3-1) which hosts another title contender, UW-Eau Claire, at 7 p.m. Saturday in Quandt Fieldhouse. The win improved the Warhawks, ranked No. 7 in the Columbus Multimedia NCAA Division III national poll this week (the Pointers were No. 10) to 4-0.

"It came down to their wearing us down on the boards and our turning the ball over too many time in situations where we seemed to have the momentum," said Pointer coach Jack Bennett.

"Some of our younger guys played too much impulsive basketball. They will get better but this was an awakening for them."

Not unexpectedly, the game went down to the wire before being decided.

The Pointers, who got off to an early 10-2 lead and still held the upper hand at halftime, 32-30, gained a 63-63 tie with 1:39 left on a free throw by Brant Bailey and a follow-up rebound basket on the second attempt miss by Derek Westrum.

Two free throws by Jaron Perry gave UW-W 65-63 lead and both Gabe Frank and Bailey missed close shots on the Pointers’ next two possessions.

Kevin Martin made one of two free throws with :33.5 left to give Whitewater a 66-63 lead.

Jay Bennett then missed long on a 3-point try from the top of the key and Tom Anderson was fouled with :19.4 remaining. He made both free throws to give the Hawks a 68-63 lead.

Frank then canned a short jumper with :12.6 to play and the Pointers tied up Graham Diemer on an in-bounds pass, giving them possession of the ball needing a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

Jay Bennett got open on a set play in the corner but his trey attempt was just short as the game ended.

"I’m not upset with our effort, just our lack of soundness with the basketball," Jack Bennett said. "Whitewater is a better team by far than they were last year and so are we."

"We’d have loved to pull this one out but we either rushed our shots or turned the ball over too many times. In this league, those are things you cannot do."

The Pointers were guilty of season high 27 turnovers, a major factor in their being limited to 48 shots.

That was critical because UW-SP shot 50 percent from the field compared to just 42 percent by UW-W which had 18 more attempts. The Pointers also had a 5-3 edge in 3-point goals and converted 12 of 17 free throws compared to 8 of 18 by the Warhawks.

Whitewater, however, had just 17 turnovers and used a 20-11 rebounding advantage in the second half to win the board battle, 37-33.

Only two Pointers scored in double figures. Bailey, playing on a tender ankle, had 16 points and six rebounds. Frank added 11 points and Derek Westrum and Nate Vosters eight each. Westrum also came down with nine boards and Vosters and Bennett each had five assists.

"Bailey gutted it out but the ankle definitely bothered him," coach Bennett said. "

"He wasn’t quite as explosive as he normally is."

Perry, who nailed eight of 16 shots, led Whitewater with 21 points while Anderson, a 6-4, 205-pounder senior transfer from Division I UW-Green Bay, contributed 15 points and 13 rebounds. Ex-Pointer Diemer and Andre Hicks added eight points each.

"Anderson may be the most active player in the conference. He’s just tough," Bennett said.