News Release

Stevens Point, Wis. — Just three days after suffering a heartbreaking loss to UW-Superior that cost UW-Stevens Point its fifth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, the Pointers regrouped on Tuesday to post an 83-73 win over the Yellowjackets in the quarterfinals of the WIAC tournament.

UW-Stevens Point advances to the semifinals for the third straight year and will face a rematch from last year’s semifinals with UW-Oshkosh on Thursday at 7 p.m. The sixth-seeded Titans won at third-seeded UW-Whitewater 52-49 on Tuesday and beat the Pointers 62-57 in the semifinals last year. UW-Stevens Point is the tournament’s second seed and has already beaten UW-Oshkosh three times this season as the teams also played in the title game of the Las Vegas tournament in December. The Pointers are now 21-5 overall and ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III rankings.

After shooting just 32 percent in a 61-52 loss to UW-Superior on Saturday, the Pointers came out and drained their first three shots to open up a 7-0 lead in Tuesday’s game. The Yellowjackets then went on a 14-2 run to lead 14-9 with 13:47 left in the first half, but UW-Stevens Point made six of its next eight shots and scored 17 straight points over the next 5:20 to lead 26-14.

The Pointers shot 52 percent for the game, hitting the same mark in both halves. UW-Superior closed to within seven points at halftime as Cody Kastern drained one of the team’s 11 three-pointers in the game with 19 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 36-29.

The Yellowjackets scored the first basket of the second to cut the lead to five, but Nick Bennett hit a three-pointer on the Pointers’ next possession and UW-Superior came no closer.

UW-Stevens Point led by as many as 19 with a 67-48 lead with 4:49 left. However, the Yellowjackets made five straight shots and trimmed the lead to 73-66 with 1:15 left before the Pointers were finally able to put the game away. Laron Reed had 13 of his game-high 25 points in the final 2:23 of the game. The teams combined for 39 points in the final four minutes and the 73 points was the most allowed by the Pointers this season.

Jason Kalsow had 18 points, including 13 in the second half for the Pointers. Jon Krull had a career-high 14 points after scoring 12 for the Pointers on Saturday. Marc Rothschadl added 17 for the Yellowjackets, who ended the season 12-14 overall.

UW-STEVENS POINT 83, UW-SUPERIOR 73
UW-SUPERIOR (12-14)
Reed, Laron 6-11 8-10 25; Rothschadl, Marc 6-13 2-2 17; Kastern, Cody 4-10 1-2 12; Nyemeck-Bayiha, F. 3-6 4-4 10; McDonald, Amin 3-3 1-2 7; Riley, Bob 1-3 0-0 2; Bailey, Matt 0-4 0-0 0; Flynn, Chip 0-1 0-0 0; Schnettler, Bryan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 16-20 73.
UW-STEVENS POINT (21-5)
Kalsow, Jason 6-9 4-7 18; Krull, Jon 4-11 5-5 14; Bennett, Nick 4-10 4-4 14; Krajnik, Neal 4-6 1-1 10; Grusczynski, Kyle 2-4 3-4 8; Relerford, Tamaris 2-2 2-3 7; Maus, Eric 3-7 1-2 7; Bauer, Brian 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 27-52 20-26 83.
UW-Superior...................   29   44  -   73
UW-Stevens Point..............   36   47  -   83
3-point goals-UW-Superior 11-28 (Reed, Laron 5-8; Kastern, Cody 3-7; Rothschadl, Marc 3-9; Bailey, Matt 0-2; Schnettler, Bryan 0-1; Nyemeck-Bayiha, F. 0-1), UW-Stevens Point 9-16 (Bennett, Nick 2-4; Kalsow, Jason 2-3; Relerford, Tamaris 1-1; Grusczynski, Kyle 1-2; Krajnik, Neal 1-1; Bauer, Brian 1-2; Krull, Jon 1-3). Fouled out--UW-Superior-Riley, Bob, UW-Stevens Point-None. Rebounds-UW-Superior 33 (Kastern, Cody 11), UW-Stevens Point 28 (Kalsow, Jason 6). Assists-UW-Superior 13 (Kastern, Cody 5), UW-Stevens Point 17 (Bennett, Nick 4; Kalsow, Jason 4; Grusczynski, Kyle 4). Total fouls-UW-Superior 22, UW-Stevens Point 16. A-1205.