News Release

WHITEWATER, Wis. — For the fifth straight year, UW-Whitewater put up a roadblock that the UW-Stevens Point men’s basketball team just couldn’t overcome.

The defending national champion and top-ranked Pointers had their 19-game winning streak snapped in a 71-63 loss to the Warhawks on Tuesday in Whitewater, marking the fourth time in five years that UW-Whitewater handed the Pointers their first loss of the season.

In 2002-03, the Pointers were 14-0 and in the previous two years they were 7-0. Last year, the Pointers had a 22-game home winning streak snapped by the Warhawks in their second loss of the season.

“I knew that we weren’t going to go through this league undefeated,” Pointers’ coach Jack Bennett said. “We were just trying to delay this as long as we could. Hopefully this can work out like last year where we learn from our losses, which was something we certainly did last season.”

UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 7-0 lead and controlled the entire first half, leading by as many as 12 points before the Pointers cut the lead to 32-26 at halftime.

UW-Stevens Point took its first lead of the game at 37-36 with 16:20 remaining and threatened to pull away, however, the Warhawks hung tough. UW-Whitewater scored five straight points to build a 55-50 lead before the Pointers scored five straight points capped by a Jon Krull layup with 6:05 left to tie the game.

Mike Toellner hit one free throw to put UW-Whitewater back ahead and then was fouled on a three-point shot on the Warhawks’ next possession. The sophomore center hit all three free throws to give UW-Whitewater a 59-55 lead with four minutes left. UW-Stevens Point had a turnover on its next trip and Giovanni Riley rebounded a missed dunk to put the Warhawks up 61-55.

Krull hit two free throws to pull the Pointers back within four points with 3:23 left, however, Jeremy Manchester hit a driving layup and was fouled as the Warhawks built the lead back to seven points at 64-57 with 2:54 left.

“When we got back in it, we finally started playing our ball,” Bennett said. “But, give Whitewater a lot of credit. They played very hard and they’re right back in this conference race.”

The teams traded baskets and UW-Whitewater turned the ball over with 1:30 left while holding a 66-61 lead. Nick Bennett, who hit numerous clutch shots during the Pointers’ postseason run a year ago, could not hit the big jumper, missing a three-pointer on the next possession and another on the next trip down the floor as the Warhawks were able to hold off the Pointers.

Manchester was a huge difference in the second half, scoring 13 of his team-high 18 points after halftime, including nine of 11 free throws. Angelo Griffin provided the offense for the Warhawks before that point, scoring all of his 16 points in the first 23 minutes of the game. UW-Whitewater also had just six turnovers in the contest.

Jason Kalsow scored 20 points and Bennett added 16 for the Pointers. Krull had 15 points in the defeat as the Pointers shot just 37 percent in each half after entering the game at 50.3 percent for the season. It was also the first time the Pointers have allowed over 60 points in a game.