News Release

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — UW-Stevens Point entered Saturday’s Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament title game as the nation’s top defensive team, but instead fans were treated to a shootout by the conference’s top two offensive squads.

In the end, the Pointers outlasted UW-Whitewater 87-77 in front of 2,550 in a raucus Quandt Fieldhouse to capture their second straight conference tournament title and a league-high third crown in the seven-year history of the event. UW-Stevens Point, which also won the tournament in 2000, clinched its third straight NCAA Division III tournament berth and fifth in nine seasons. The Pointers are now 24-3 overall and will learn of their first round opponent when pairings are announced on Sunday at 9:30 p.m.

The first half was played at a breakneck pace with the Warhawks scoring on 10 of their first 12 possessions and stunning the Pointers with 21 points in the first 6:40 of the game. However, UW-Stevens Point kept pace and trailed just 21-16 at that point.

The Pointers used a 7-0 run later in the half to take a 44-39 lead with 3:04 remaining and eventually hold a 47-43 halftime lead. UW-Whitewater played much of the half without its two leading scorers, Angelo Griffin and Jeremy Manchester, who were both saddled with two fouls and had two points at the intermission.

“I felt more than a little fortunate,” Warhawks’ coach Pat Miller said of the five-point deficit. “I thought our other guys stepped up to keep us in there.”

“We were getting looks the whole game and offense wasn’t really our concern,” said Pointers’ senior Jason Kalsow, who led all scorers with 28 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. “When we got back on defense that’s when we were able to stop them.”

UW-Stevens Point held its lead early in the second half and was up 54-49 four minutes into the period when the Warhawks scored seven straight points, capped by a dunk from Mike Toellner for a 56-54 lead with 14:11. It was at that point when Pointers’ coach Jack Bennett knew the game was in the balance.

“When they started pushing the ball down our throats, I called that time out and told them that it was do or die,” Bennett said. “That was a turning point of the game and I thought from that point on we played pretty good defense.”

In fact, following the timeout, the Pointers went on a 10-1 run, tying the game on a short hook shot by Eric Maus and taking the lead on a three-pointer from Tamaris Relerford. UW-Whitewater cut the lead to 67-61 with 10 minutes left, but Kalsow scored an inside basket to spark a 6-1 run and the Warhawks came no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

After shooting 45.7 percent in the first half, UW-Whitewater shot 35.7 and was just one-for-eight from three-point range after halftime.

“We got swept up in playing Whitewater’s speed,” said Bennett, whose team shot 53.8 percent for the game. “We can play that way, but we’re much better in a controlled, quick game.”

It was the second straight hard-fought game for the Pointers, who also held off UW-Oshkosh just two days ago.

“The WIAC tournament in grueling,” Bennett said. “I think this week is physically and mentally tougher than the NCAA. If you survive it, you have a chance to make some great noise in the NCAA.”

Nick Bennett added 16 points for the Pointers, but was just zero-for-two from the field in the second half, scoring all five points in the frame from the free throw line. Relerford added 12 points and Jon Krull had 11. Craig Anderson scored a season-high 25 points for the Warhawks and was 10-for-16 from the free throw line. Griffin had eight points and Manchester fouled out without scoring in the second half and finishing with two points.