STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team is set to take part in this weekend's Hoopsville Classic in Baltimore, Md.  The Pointers face a pair of tough opponents in Christopher Newport and Lynchburg College.
 
THE BASICS (Hoopsville Classic Tournament Central)
Who: UW-Stevens Point (0-1) vs. #2 Christopher Newport  (1-0)
When: Friday, November 18  – 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Where: Owings Mills Gymnasium – Owings Mill, Md.
Follow:  Live Stats | Watch | Live Audio - Newstalk 92.1 FM
 
Who: UW-Stevens Point (0-1) vs. Lynchburg  (1-0)
When: Saturday, November 19  – 5:00 p.m. (CT)
Where: Owings Mills Gymnasium – Owings Mill, Md.
Follow:  Live Stats | Watch | Live Audio - Newstalk 92.1 FM

LAST TIME OUT 
UW-Stevens Point saw a seven point halftime lead evaporate as St. Olaf went on a 19-0 run to open the second half.  The Pointers were not able to recover from the early second half blow in a 63-55 setback to toe Oles to open the 2016-17 campaign.  Sophomore Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) had 17 points and was the lone UWSP player in double figures.

BOTH WAYS BUBLITZ
Sophomore Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) was one of the top performers in the WIAC last season.  He was ninth in the league in three-pointers made per game while ranking 18th in the conference in scoring average.  Defensively, he ranked third in steals per game and 15th in rebounds per game.
 
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The 2016-17 Pointers began the season 0-1 for the first time in more than a decade with Tuesday's loss at St. Olaf. The Pointers had an offensive drought of more than eight minutes to open the second half in Northfield.  Aside from that eight minute stretch, UWSP out-scored the Oles 55 to 44.  The Pointers will rely on Bublitz to spark the offense while junior Zack Goedeke (Valders, Wis./Valders) will be pivotal to the Pointers' post game.
 
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT - Home | Schedule | Roster | Statistics
The second-ranked Captains put a 34-10 run on Randolph-Macon in their season opener and cruised to a 70-47 victory.  Junior All-American Marcus Carter had a team-high 15 points for CNU.  Fellow junior Aaron McFarland added 14 points.  Last season, Christopher Newport advanced to the Final Four before succumbing to eventual national champion St. Thomas.
 
ABOUT LYNCHBURG - Home | Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Lynchburg won its home opener against Johns Hopkins on Tuesday.  The Hornets were red-hot from beyond the arc, hitting 37.5 percent of their three-point attempts.  Sophomore Connor Schroeder and senior Jay Allen each hit four-consecutive three-pointers in the game.  Lynchburg also won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Blue Jays 50-43.  Last season, Lynchburg advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before a 97-94 loss to No. 10 Ohio Wesleyan.
 
SERIES HISTORY
UWSP will meet both Christopher Newport and Lynchburg this weekend for the first time in program history.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Semling in his 12th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has won four national championships with the Pointers. He led the Pointers to national titles in 2010 and 2015 as a head coach and was an assistant on the back-to-back national title teams of 2004 and 2005. Semling has a career record of 254-67, including a 139-33 mark in WIAC play. His .795 career winning percentage entering this season was the highest among active Division III coaches and ranks ninth all-time among all divisions for coaches with at least 10 seasons as a head coach.
 
Christopher Newport is led by John Krikorian, who is in his seventh season with the Captains. In 2015-16, he led CNU to its first Final Four appearance in program history and set a school record with 30 wins.  Krikorian came to CNU after four seasons as head coach of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.  He also spent time on the coaching staffs at Navy, Lafayette College, Penn and West Virginia Wesleyan.  In 18 seasons as a head coach, Krikorian is 198-81.
 
Lynchburg head coach Hilliary Scott is in his ninth season and earned his 100th victory at the program last season.  In 2015-16, Scott led the Hornets to their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) title and NCAA Division III Tournament berth since the 1978-79 season.  Prior to joining the Lynchburg staff, Scott was an assistant coach at Penn State from 2003-08.  He also spent coaching stints at East Tennessee State and in Europe.  Scott played collegiately at Roanoke College where he was twice an NABC All-American and the ODAC Player of the Year in 1994.
 
UP NEXT
The Pointers cap a four-game road trip to open the season with a visit to Lawrence on Saturday, Nov. 26.  UWSP will host UW-Superior on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. in the home opener at Bennett Court.