News Release

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The Lakeland men’s basketball team snapped two-time defending national champion UW-Stevens Point’s 45-game non-conference, regular season win streak, dominating the Pointers defensively in a 63-58 win.

The Pointers last non-conference loss came against Edgewood College on Dec. 29, 1999. This is only Point’s second loss in their last 60 non-conference games, counting postseason play against non-WIAC opponents.

“These guys had it in their mind tonight that they wanted to show not only Wisconsin but the country what Lakeland basketball is all about,” said third-year Lakeland head coach Gary Grzesk. “When we put our minds to it and play like we did tonight on both ends of the floor, we are capable of playing with a lot of teams.”

Lakeland’s defense held the Pointers to 35 percent shooting from the floor, while the Muskies (3-1) shot 60 percent in the first half and 56 percent for the game.

“We talked a lot in our walk through about defense,” said Grzesk, whose team led 36-24 at the half. “We knew we’d have to defend for 35 seconds on every possession. They are such a good team skill wise that if you are not there on the catch, they are going to make good shots. We made them earn every single basket they scored tonight.”

With just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half and the scored tied 9-9, Lakeland went on a 15-3 run over the next 7:10 to jump out to a 27-13 lead. A late surge by the Pointers cut the gap to 59-53 with a minute left, but four free throws by sophomore Kris Saiberlich iced the victory.

Senior Germayne James led four Lakeland players in double figures 14, while junior Tyrone Coleman scored 12, 10 at the half on 5-for-5 shooting.

“I had a bad game last night so I tried to come out strong early and bounce back,” Coleman said. “We had to play great defense and we did. This feels great. I don’t know all their history, but it has been awhile since we beat them and it feels good to come in and beat them.”

Saiberlich and freshman Matt Rogers both added 10 points each for the Muskies, who also got nine rebounds from sophomore Danny Ehnert.

“We were really efficient on offense and balanced,” Grzesk said. “We have a number of different guys that can step up. These guys are starting to believe and understand their roles.”

The Muskies host Northland Baptist on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the Moose and Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Newspaper Box Score
UW-Stevens Point vs Lakeland College
11/26/05 7:00 PM at Sheboygan, WI  Woltzen Gym
At Sheboygan, WI  Woltzen Gym
LAKELAND COLLEGE 63, UW-STEVENS POINT 58
UW-STEVENS POINT (2-1)
Krull, Jon 6-16 7-7 20; Bauer, Brian 5-13 2-3 15; Rortvedt, Pete 4-9 0-0 9;
Hicklin, Steve 2-9 1-1 5; Grusczynski, Kevin 2-5 0-0 5; Krautkramer, Cory
2-2 0-0 4; Beamish, Bryan 0-1 0-0 0; Bouche, Matt 0-1 0-0 0; Jackson, Drew
0-0 0-0 0; Kuchta, Bobby 0-2 0-0 0; El-Amin, Khalifa 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59
10-11 58.
LAKELAND COLLEGE (3-1)
James, Germayne 7-8 0-1 14; Coleman, Tyrone 6-8 0-0 12; Rogers, Matt 4-5 2-3
10; Saiberlich, Kris 2-6 4-4 10; Howard, Nick 2-5 0-0 5; Ehnert, Danny 1-3
1-2 4; Regal, Aaron 1-2 0-0 3; Worth, Peter 0-0 2-2 2; Hoerres, David 0-1
2-2 2; Grube, Shane 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 23-41 12-16 63.
UW-Stevens Point..............   24   34  -   58
Lakeland College..............   36   27  -   63
3-point goals-UW-Stevens Point 6-24 (Bauer, Brian 3-8; Krull, Jon 1-6;
Rortvedt, Pete 1-3; Grusczynski, Kevin 1-2; Kuchta, Bobby 0-1; El-Amin,
Khalifa 0-1; Hicklin, Steve 0-3), Lakeland College 5-15 (Saiberlich, Kris
2-5; Howard, Nick 1-4; Regal, Aaron 1-2; Ehnert, Danny 1-2; Hoerres, David
0-1; James, Germayne 0-1). Fouled out--UW-Stevens Point-None, Lakeland
College-Hoerres, David. Rebounds-UW-Stevens Point 36 (Grusczynski, Kevin 7),
Lakeland College 24 (Ehnert, Danny 9). Assists-UW-Stevens Point 8 (Hicklin,
Steve 3), Lakeland College 12 (James, Germayne 3). Total fouls-UW-Stevens
Point 17, Lakeland College 18. A-355