Sun 23-Jan-2000

Power Struggle
UW-Stevens Point rises to the top of the WIAC
CW Sunday staff

Brent Larson (20) of UW-Stevens Point gets past Sherm Carstensen ( left) and Jon Wallenfelsz (right) both of UW Eau-Claire during action Saturday in Stevens Point. The shot was no good due to an offensive foul, but the Pointers went on to win, 72-67. CW Sunday photo by Sean O'Leary.

STEVENS POINT - Alone at the top.

That's the position the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team finds itself in after at 72-67 victory over UW-Eau Claire Saturday night at Quandt Fieldhouse.

The win gives the Pointers sole possession of first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 9-1 record, while the Blugolds slip to 7-2 in league play.

"This is what college basketball is all about," said UW-SP coach Jack Bennett, whose team improved to 14-3.

"There was such a build up to this game and sometimes showdowns like this fall flat. But this game lived up to it."

The Pointers used their outside game to pull out a one-point lead in the first half, then turned to their inside game to put away the Blugolds.

After combining for just seven points in the first half, the Pointers' two leading scorers, seniors Brant Bailey and Gabe Frank, combined for 32 in the final 20 minutes - including 20 of the Pointers final 22 points in the second half.

Bailey, who had four points in the first half, finished the game with 21 points and was 9-of10 from the foul line in the second half. Frank, who had three first-half points, finished with 18 points and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the stripe in the second half.

"Brant and I are seniors and we expect that kind of pressure," Frank said.

"We have worked hard for four years and this is our team. We want and expect that kind of pressure with a game on the line."

For the game, UW-SP hit 23-of-29 free throws, while the Blugolds were 11-of-19 from the stripe.

Eau Claire, 15-2, was led by Sherm Carstensen with 26 points and Jon Wallenfelsz with 22.

"The free throws were the big difference in the game," said Blugold coach Terry Gibbons. "When you have an inside game like theirs, with Bailey, he is going to find ways to hurt you and he did.

"We did a good job against their inside game in the first half. Our plan was to make them score on us from the outside and they hit some big 3's."

The Pointers clung to a 30-29 lead in the first half thanks in large part to their long-range game. UW-SP was 7-from-12 from behind the arc in the first half. Point guard Brent Larson was 3-for-3 from long distance in the first half and led the Pointers with 11 points.

Wallenfelsz and Carstensen had 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the first half Bailey, meanwhile, struggled through one of his worst halves of the season, hitting just 2-of-10 shots.

But that would change in the second half.

"In the first half, we did most of our scoring from the 3-point line,"

Bennett said. "But at halftime, I told them we needed to get the ball inside.

"Eau Claire is a big team, but our plan was to go at their strength and we did a good job of it in the second half."

Did they ever.

UW-SP scored its first 16 points of the second half from in the paint. That stretch included a spectacular dunk by Bailey on an alley-oop pass from Larson and another slam by freshman Josh Iserloth.

"At halftime, we decided to post me up one-on-one and if they doubled me, like they did in the first half, we would kick it back out for the 3(-pointer)," Bailey said.

"But they didn't double very often in the second half and that allowed me to get much better looks."

A pair of free throws by Carstensen tied the game at 50-50 with eight and a half minutes remaining. A jumper by Joe Zuiker gave UW-SP a 52-50 lead and the Pointers never trailed.

UW-SP pushed its bulge to seven points three times over the remainder of the game, but the Blugolds were not about to go away.

A 3-pointer by Wallenfelsz and a layup by Carstensen with 23 seconds remaining cut the deficit to two points - 69-67.

But Frank hit a pair of free throws and Bailey nailed 1-of-2 foul shots to put the game away.

"Our guys really answered the call in the second half," Bennett said. "We came out very aggressive. In the first half, they really hurt us on the boards. In the second half, I think we held our own with them."

Joe Zuiker led the Pointers on the boards with 10 rebounds. Wallenfelsz had 11 boards as the Blugolds outrebounded UW-SP 36-32.

While the victory was a big one for the Pointers, Bennett warned that there is plenty of season left.

"It's not over yet," he said. "The season has a long way to go. We just have to keep playing our game, inside-out basketball, and doing the things we know we can do."

The Pointers host UW-Superior Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Quandt Fieldhouse.

EAU CLAIRE (67) - Mellenthin 3-7 0-1 7, Gardow 1-2 0-0 2, Wallenfelsz 9-15 3-7 22, Fermanich 1-6 0-0 2, Carstensen 8-21 7-9 26, Johnson 1-5 1-2 4, Marks 1-1 0-0 3, Schneeberger 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-58 11-19 67 STEVENS POINT (72) - Zuiker 2-5 3-4 7, Frank 4-10 9-9 18, Bailey 6-18 9-13 21, Larson 3-6 2-2 11, Bennett 1-2 0-1 3, Kind 1-1 0-0 3, Vosters 0-0 0-0 0, Iserloth 4-5 0-0 9, Kornowski 0-2 0-0 3, Benesh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-49 23-29 72.

Eau Claire 29 38 - 67 Stevens Point 30 42 - 72 3-pointers: EC 8-21 (Carstensen 3-9, Fermanmich 1-4, Johnson 1-4, Mellenthin 1-2, Wallenfelsz 1-1, Marks 1-1), SP 7-15 (Larson 3-4, Frank 1-4, Bennett 1-2, Kind 1-1, Iserloth 1-2, Kornowski 0-2). Rebounds: EC 36 (Wallenfelsz 11), SP 32 (Zuiker 10). Assist: EC 15 (Fermanich 8), SP 8 (Larson 5). Total fouls: EC 25, SP 18. Fouled out: none.