ST. PAUL – Fourth-ranked UW-Stevens Point held a 12-point second half advantage but the undefeated and ninth-ranked Tommies of the University of St. Thomas overcame the deficit and closed out the game on a 9-2 run to hand the Pointers a 61-54 loss Wednesday evening. 

The win by the Tommies avenges a 22-point loss the team suffered against the Pointers last December. The victory also extends St. Thomas' regular-season win streak to 21 games. 

A 14-day layoff affected both teams early on, but UW-Stevens Point shot 43 percent from the floor in the game's opening half and held a five point halftime edge, 25-20.

In the second half, the Pointers continued to build their lead and a jumper from Vinny Ritchay (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) with 13:28 remaining pushed the advantage to 12, 37-25. 

The Tommies closed the gap and tied the game at 46-46 with 5:47 remaining. Both teams traded the lead down the stretch and tied at 52-52 with 1:57 remaining, St. Thomas closed out the game on a 9-2 run to pull away for the victory.

UW-Stevens Point held a 27-11 edge in bench scoring, as Jordan Brezinski (Muskego, WI/Muskego) led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor and led the Pointers with seven rebounds. Jerrel Harris (Milwaukee/Dominican) added 10 points off the bench and Louis Hurd (Portage/Portage) also added 10 in the loss.

Tyler Nicolai and Alex Healy each scored 14 in the win for the Tommies. 

UW-Stevens Point (5-2) returns to action with four games in four days starting Dec. 27 with a pair of games at the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas. The Pointers will face #20 Ramapo (N.J.) in the opening game starting at 2 p.m. Pacific.