News Release

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Meeting for the 10th time in three years and second time in six days, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh saved the best for last.

The teams put on a classic showdown in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinals Thursday at the Quandt Fieldhouse with the Pointers outlasting the Titans for a thrilling 65-59 victory. It was the third straight year the teams have played in the league semifinals in Stevens Point.

The Pointers advance to host the WIAC tournament title game for the second straight year on Saturday at 7 p.m. against UW-Whitewater, which knocked off top-seeded UW-Platteville 89-76. UW-Stevens Point is now 22-3 and ranked third nationally, while UW-Oshkosh ends the season 19-8 and is ranked 25th.

Both teams hit one clutch shot after another as neither held bigger than a four-point lead in the last 16:52 of the game until a pair of free throws in the final seconds accounted for the final score. The game was reminiscent of several that UW-Stevens Point played in the postseason on the way to winning last season’s NCAA Division III championship.

“That was a heck of a game and worthy of final four caliber,” Pointers’ coach Jack Bennett said. “They made plays, we made plays, there was great defense and big shots.”

“You can sum up the game by looking at their reaction,” UW-Oshkosh coach Ted Van Dellen said. “When the buzzer sounded, Point looked a lot like they did last year when they won the national championship. I told our guys that’s a lot of respect for what they did tonight.”

After a somewhat sluggish first half that saw the Pointers hold a 23-18 halftime lead and limit the Titans to 29.6 percent shooting, the teams and intensity heated up after halftime. The best stretch of the game started at the 8:56 mark of the second half when UW-Stevens Point’s Tamaris Relerford drained a three-pointer from the corner for a 39-37 lead, sparking an extraordinary flurry of five straight three-pointers over a 1:24 span.

Andy Fernholz answered with a three-pointer for the Titans and Bennett followed with a three on the other end. Then it was Andy Jahnke from deep behind the three-point line and Bennett hit a closely-guarded bomb to put the Pointers back ahead 45-43.

The teams moved inside and continued to trade blows, settling into their sixth tie of the second half at 55-55 with 3:28 left. UW-Stevens Point missed a three-pointer on its possession, but Kyle Grusczynski swiped the ball on the Titans’ possession and passed ahead to Tamaris Relerford for an uncontested layup, giving the Pointers a 57-55 lead with 2:27 left.

The Titans pounded the ball into seven-footer Gibson to try to tie the game, but he missed an inside shot and Bennett pulled down the rebound. Bennett was fouled away from the ball on the other end and made two free throws for a four-point lead, however, Gibson followed with a dunk set up by penetration by Jahnke to cut the lead to 59-57 with 1:25 left.

Bennett missed a three-pointer on the next possession, but Grusczynski came flying into the lane from the perimeter to retrieve the miss and keep the possession alive. Kalsow was then fouled with 46 seconds left and made both free throws for a 61-57 lead.

“This team isn’t just Jason (Kalsow) and me,” said Bennett, who poured in 28 points and surpassed the 1,500-point mark in the first half. “Kyle Grusczynski made the play of the game with that offensive rebound.”

UW-Oshkosh’s Chad Doedens drove the length of the court and scored a quick layup to trim the lead back to two points and the Titans chose not to foul the Pointers, who ran the shot clock down before Kalsow found Maus under the basket for an easy layup with 14 seconds left.

The Titans missed a three-pointer at the other end and Bennett hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to finish off the game.

“You expect players to make plays,” Jack Bennett said. “That’s where our tournament experience from last year helped us.”

Nick Bennett hit four three-pointers and was eight-for-eight from the line. Kalsow added 12 points and Maus had 10 points, all in the second half while guarding Gibson and playing much of the period with three fouls. The Pointers made 20 of 22 free throws, including all 17 attempts in the second half.

Jahnke led the Titans with 15 points, while Capelle and Gibson each scored 13 points.