Box Score UW-Stevens Point inched closer to a possible Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball championship by holding off second place UW-La Crosse for a 68-65 victory on Saturday in La Crosse.

The Pointers had a 13-point lead with under nine minutes left, but stopped the Eagles on two potential game-tying possessions in the final seconds to earn the victory and maintain their two-game lead in the loss column of the league standings with four games left.

UW-Stevens Point, ranked third in the NCAA Division III, is now 18-2 overall and 11-1 in the WIAC, while UW-La Crosse entered the game ranked 22nd in the country and slipped to 14-7 overall and 9-4 in the league. UW-Oshkosh sits in second place in the league with a 10-3 record.

UW-La Crosse achieved most of its comeback at the free throw line, scoring 11 of its 15 points in the final 7:37 of the game from the charity stripe. In fact, the Eagles were 11-for-12 during the span and finished the game 24-for-30 from the line, while UW-Stevens Point was just five-for-seven for the game.

The Eagles closed to within three points on two free throws from Joe Werner with 49 seconds left and then Chris Ask rebounded a missed shot by the Pointers with 18 seconds left. UW-La Crosse called timeout, but the Pointers' Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) stripped the ball away and was fouled with one second left. He missed the front end of the bonus and the Eagles quickly called another timeout, but Drew Jackson (Milwaukee/Rufus King) intercepted the inbounds play as the Pointers held on for the win. It was a nearly identical score to the teams' first meting that the Pointers won 67-64 on Dec. 9.

UW-Stevens Point opened the game with an early 18-11 lead, but the Eagles went on a 12-3 run to claim a 23-21 advantage with 7:38 left in the first half. With the game tied at 25-25, Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) and Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) hit consecutive three-pointers to spark a 10-1 run and the Pointers eventually led 37-32 at halftime.

A three-pointer from Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) gave the Pointers their biggest lead at 57-44 with 9:57 left in the game. Another Rortvedt inside basket made it 59-46 with 9:08 left before the Eagles began to mount their comeback.

The Pointers, who average a national-low 8.7 turnovers per game, had four during the final eight minutes and finished with 12 for the game. UW-Stevens Point made 11 three-pointers and shot 46.4 percent for the game, including 55.0 percent in the second half. Rortvedt, who was saddled with three fouls in the first half, still managed a team-high 18 points and hit four three-pointers. Jon Krull added 16 points, while Hicklin had 14 points and El-Amin totaled 12 points and six assists.

Werner had 26 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles and Ask added 17 points and 10 rebounds.