UW-SP needs overtime to win WIAC
By Denis Downey of the Central Wisconsin Sunday Staff

STEVENS POINT - Next stop, the NCAA Tournament.

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team worked overtime Saturday night to secure a berth in the Division III national tournament with a 59-56 victory over UW-Eau Claire in the championship game of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Pointers, who trailed by six with 1:08 remaining, got 3-point baskets from Jay Bennett and Travis Kornowski to knot the game at 56-56 and force the extra session.

UW-SP then held the Blugolds scoreless in the five minute overtime to sweep the regular season and postseason WIAC titles.

"It was truly seven minutes of the highest emotion (at the end of regulation and overtime)," said UW-SP coach Jack Bennett, whose team improved to 23-4.

"We didn't do it with tremendous shooting and we didn't do it with our free throw shooting.

"We did it with our guts. We really gutted out this win down the stretch."

UW-SP senior forward Brant Bailey led all scorers with 24 points. Jay Bennett added 11 points for the Pointers.

Eau Claire, 22-5, was paced by Sherm Carstensen with 18 points and Jon Wallenfelsz with 13 points.

"This was a great basketball game," said Eau Claire coach Terry Gibbons.

"Both teams deserved to win. You can't ask for more, it went right down to the wire.

"This was a tough loss. It hurts. Our kids hurt. They played well enough to win. If our free throws go down at the end, we win the game."

The free throws Gibbons was talking about were two misses on the front end of bonus situations by the Blugolds' top free throw shooter, Matt Fermanich, which came between the 3-pointers by Bennett and Kornowski.

While the victory puts the Pointers into the Division III tournament, the Blugolds must wait until tonight to see if they will receive an at-large bid.

Both Gibbons and Bennett believe Eau Claire should be invited to the dance.

"If they don't want to take teams from this conference, the toughest Division III conference in the nation, there's not a lot we can do about it," Gibbons said. "But to me, it would be like leaving two or three teams out from the Big Ten in the big tournament."

"Both teams deserve to be in," Bennett added. "They are a great team and they won 22 games. I hope they get in, but I don't know if I want to play them again."

Freshman Josh Iserloth came off the bench to spark the Pointers with eight points in the first half as UW-SP opened up a 10-point lead, 29-19, with just under a minute and half left in the half.

Iserloth, who finished with nine points, and Joe Zuiker were also forces on the boards, pulling down nine and 12 rebounds, respectively as UW-SP outrebounded the Blugolds 44-39.

"We would not be where we are without Joe and Josh," Bennett said. "They both are emerging players. Joe has been rebounding as well as anyone in the conference.

"And Josh is a scorer and he gives us a boost, especially when Brant isn't in there. Josh can do some things that Brant can't because of the range of his outside shot. We needed all three of those guys tonight."

The Pointers led 29-23 at halftime, but the Blugolds quickly erased the deficit over the first five minutes of the second half.

A pair of free throws by Amherst grad Eric Konkol gave the Blugolds a 32-31 lead with 15:19 to play.

"In the beginning of the second half, we started to hitting 3-point shots and that loosened things up inside for us," said Gibbons.

The teams swapped the lead five times over the next 10 minutes.

Back-to-back jumpers by Wallenfelsz gave the Blugolds a 54-48 lead with two and a half minutes to go.

Bailey and the Blugolds' Dave Mellenthin then traded baskets and Jay Bennett drained a 3-pointer to pull the Pointers to within 56-53 with 55 seconds remaining.

The Pointers fouled Fermanich on the Blugolds' next possession. He missed the front end of the bonus, but Eau Claire rebounded the miss and Fermanich was fouled again.

He missed the first bonus shot again and this time the Pointers got the rebound, setting the stage for Kornowski's game-tying effort.

"As soon as we got set up, I knew if I had any kind of opening, I would take the shot," said Kornowski, who buried an NBA 3-pointer from the right side to tie the game with 23 seconds left.

"As soon as I got my legs under me, I just let it go and it felt good."

The Blugolds tried to hold the ball for the last shot, but the Pointers' Brent Larson came up with a steal and his running shot at the buzzer came up short.

Bailey scored the only points in overtime, converting a layup and a free throw in the first two minutes of the extra session.

The Blugolds were 0-for-8 from the floor in overtime, while the Pointers were 1-of-6.

"The last two minutes of the game we played our best defense of the game,"

Bailey said. "We knew we could keep it up, if we got to overtime."

Eau Claire had one a shot at sending the game to a second overtime, but Fermanich's 3-point shot from the corner rimmed out at the buzzer.

"This was another one of those games where we found a way to win," Bennett said. "Sometimes you win by making spectacular plays and sometime you win with a by playing a real blue-collar kind of game. That's what we did tonight."

The Pointers will find out their Division III tournament fate tonight, when the NCAA announces its tournament brackets.

UW-EAU CLAIRE (56) - Marks 0-3 0-0 0; Mellenthin 4-14 0-0 9; Wallenfelsz 6-14 1-11 13; Fermanich 1-6 0-2 3; Carstensen 7-14 3-5 18; Konkol 0-0 2-2 2;

Larson 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson 3-4 1-2 9; Gardow 0-0 0-0 0; Schneeberger 0-0 0-0 0; Jacobson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-56 7-22 56 UW-STEVENS POINT (59) - Zuiker 4-7 0-0 8; Frank 1-4 2-2 4; Bailey 10-17 4-10 24; Larson 0-9 0-0 0; Bennett 4-9 0-1 11; Kind 0-1 0-0 0; Bosters 0-0 0-0 0;

Iserloth 3-8 1-2 9; Kornowski 1-3 0-1 3. Totals: 23-58 7-16 59.

3-point goals: UW-EC 5-18 (Marks 0-3, Mellenthin 1-3, Fermanich 1-5, Carstensen 1-4, Johnson 2-3), UW-SP 6-23 (Frank 0-3, Larson 0-6, Bennett 3-7, Iserloth 2-5, Kornowski 1-2). Rebounds: UW-Ec 39 (Wallenfelsz 12), UW-SP 44 (Zuiker 12). Assists: UW-EC 11, UW-SP 9. Turnovers: UW-EC 13, UW-SP 15. Total Fouls: UW-EC 17, UW-SP 19. Fouled out: none.