News Release

Stevens Point, Wis. — UW-Stevens Point will make its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament championship game appearance since 2000 after posting a 70-59 win over UW-Oshkosh on Thursday night, snapping the Titans’ string of three straight title game appearances.

The second-seeded Pointers are now 22-5 overall and will host fourth-seeded UW-Platteville in a doubleheader with the UW-Stevens Point women’s basketball team, which will host UW-Oshkosh in the women’s title game. UW-Stevens Point’s men had lost in the semifinals the past two years, including last year to UW-Oshkosh, and won its only finals appearance by beating UW-Eau Claire in 2000.

The win for UW-Stevens Point was its fourth this season over UW-Oshkosh. It was the second time the Pointers have ever played a team four times, splitting four meetings with UW-Eau Claire in 2000, while the Titans had never played a team four times in a season. In addition to the two regular season conference meetings, the teams played in the Las Vegas tournament title game.

The Titans were the two-time defending tournament champions and had a seven-game tournament winning streak snapped. In fact, they had won nine of their previous 10 tournament contests.

UW-Oshkosh got out to a strong start, taking an 8-1 lead five and a half minutes into the game before Jason Kalsow hit back-to-back baskets to start and eight-point UW-Stevens Point run. The Titans went five minutes without scoring during that stretch and had another five-minute dry spell later in the half as the Pointers went on a 10-0 spurt for a 25-15 lead with 2:39 left.

UW-Oshkosh’s Jim Capelle drained a three-pointer at the first half buzzer to pull the Titans within 27-21 and the UW-Oshkosh climbed back within two points at 33-31 with 16:33 left. However, the Pointers scored six straight points as the Titans missed six straight shots and the Pointers held at least a six-point lead the rest of the game.

The biggest blow to the Titans’ comeback came with inside nine minutes left when Pointers’ senior Neal Krajnik drained back-to-back three-pointers to give the Pointers a 50-35 lead with 8:13 left. UW-Oshkosh was red-hot in the closing minutes, draining six of its final eight shots, but the Pointers made 11 of their last 12 free throws to seal the game. UW-Stevens Point scored its final 15 points from the free throw line and made its final field goal with 6:31 left. The Pointers attempted just one field goal in the last 5:25 of the game.

Nick Bennett scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for the Pointers and was nine-for-10 from the free throw line in the final five minutes. Krajnik had a season-high 16 points and freshman Jon Krull had a career-high game for the third straight outing with 15 points.

Capelle led the Titans with 17 points and Andy Fernholz had 16 points as UW-Oshkosh finished its season 14-13.

UW-STEVENS POINT 70, UW-OSHKOSH 59
UW-OSHKOSH (14-13)
Capelle, Jim 4-13 6-6 17; Fernholz, Andy 6-9 3-3 16; Pederson, Kyle 3-5 2-2 8; Doedens, Chad 2-6 2-2 6; Wesener, Nathan 2-3 0-0 5; Gershenzon, David 2-3 0-0 5; Gibson, Kerry 1-3 0-0 2; Warning, Pete 0-2 0-0 0; Christensen, Dain 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 13-13 59.
UW-STEVENS POINT (22-5)
Bennett, Nick 3-8 9-10 17; Krajnik, Neal 4-5 6-7 16; Krull, Jon 5-8 4-5 15; Kalsow, Jason 6-12 2-3 14; Maus, Eric 3-6 0-0 6; Bauer, Brian 1-3 0-0 2; Grusczynski, Kyle 0-2 0-0 0; Relerford, Tamaris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 21-25 70.
UW-Oshkosh....................   21   38  -   59
UW-Stevens Point..............   27   43  -   70
3-point goals-UW-Oshkosh 6-18 (Capelle, Jim 3-9; Fernholz, Andy 1-2; Gershenzon, David 1-1; Wesener, Nathan 1-1; Christensen, Dain 0-2; Doedens, Chad 0-2; Pederson, Kyle 0-1), UW-Stevens Point 5-11 (Krajnik, Neal 2-3; Bennett, Nick 2-2; Krull, Jon 1-4; Bauer, Brian 0-1; Kalsow, Jason 0-1). Fouled out--UW-Oshkosh-None, UW-Stevens Point-None. Rebounds-UW-Oshkosh 27 (Capelle, Jim 8), UW-Stevens Point 24 (Bauer, Brian 3; Kalsow, Jason 3; Bennett, Nick 3; Krajnik, Neal 3; Krull, Jon 3; Maus, Eric 3). Assists-UW-Oshkosh 10 (Capelle, Jim 3; Fernholz, Andy 3), UW-Stevens Point 12 (Krajnik, Neal 3). Total fouls-UW-Oshkosh 20, UW-Stevens Point 12. A-1790.