Box Score UW-Stevens Point had a slow start to its postseason opener, but exploded for a 53-point second half to roll into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament semifinals for the sixth straight year with an 89-55 win over UW-Eau Claire on Tuesday at the Quandt Fieldhouse.

The Pointers had a five-point lead early in the second half, but hit 18 of their first 24 shots after halftime to pull away from the Blugolds and improve to 23-2 overall for the season. UW-Stevens Point, the top-seeded team in the WIAC tournament, is now 8-1 all-time in the event and will host fourth-seeded UW-Whitewater in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Pointers are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III and have won seven straight games to improve to 23-2 overall. UW-Stevens Point has won 19 of its last 20 postseason games. UW-Eau Claire finished its season 10-16 and lost all three meetings to the Pointers this season by an average of 32.3 points.

UW-Stevens Point closed out the first half with a 17-6 run over the final seven minutes to lead 36-26 at halftime. The Blugolds then got a three-pointer and a layup by Matt Riley to close to within 38-33 with 17:48 remaining in the game. However, the Pointers took over from that point, scoring the next 11 points by making five straight field goals. In fact, UW-Stevens Point made 14 of its next 17 attempts to build a commanding 67-43 lead with 9:37 left.

The Pointers shot 21-for-31 from the field for 67.7 percent in the second half and finished the game at 57.1 percent with just four turnovers. UW-Stevens Point also had eight steals while forcing 16 UW-Eau Claire turnovers.

Jon Krull had 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting to lead the Pointers. Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) added 17 points and Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) had 10 points – all coming in the first half. Point guard Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) had all of his points and assists in the second half, finishing with nine points and five assists. He now has 17 assists and no turnovers over the past three games.

UW-Stevens Point made seven three-pointers, snapping a string of 22 straight games where it had hit at least eight times from behind the arc. However, the Pointers still surpassed the WIAC single-season record for three-pointers in a season with 266 for the year. UW-Whitewater held the old record with 263 threes in 31 games in 1988-89.

UW-Eau Claire's Dan Beyer, who had 40 points in his most recent outing, was held to two points in the first half, but finished with a team-high 18. Jared Supalla had 10 points on four-for-four shooting.