Box Score It looked for one half that UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater were headed for another tight finish, but the Pointers used a big second half for the second straight postseason game in cruising into their third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament finals in four years with a 94-69 win on Thursday at the Quandt Fieldhouse.

The Pointers had beaten the Warhawks in two-point and three-point games during the regular season and appeared on track for another close battle during a tightly-contested first half that ended when Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) drained a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give UW-Stevens Point a 44-41 lead.

UW-Stevens Point then went on a 9-0 run early in the second half and outscored the Warhawks 23-9 over the final 7:27 of the game to improve to 24-2 overall for the season.

The Pointers will make their fourth tournament finals appearance and also host the event for the fourth time when they take on first-time finalist UW-La Crosse on Saturday at 7 p.m. UW-Stevens Point has now won 20 of its last 21 postseason games and nine of its last 10 WIAC tournament contests. UW-Whitewater, the defending tournament champion, lost in the WIAC semifinals for the first time in five appearances and fell to 18-9 for the year.

The Pointers used torrid shooting all night long, hitting 12 of their last 15 shots in the first half and finishing at 57 percent from the floor in each half. UW-Stevens Point, the nation's top free throw shooting team, also connected on 17-for-18 from the line and was 11-for-26 from three-point range.

Early in the second half, UW-Stevens Point scored nine straight points to build a 55-45 lead with 15:52 left. UW-Whitewater tallied the next four points to cut the lead to six points with 14:35 remaining, but the Pointers then went on a 12-3 spurt to claim a 63-51 advantage with 11:09 to play. Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton), who keyed the second half assault with 15 of his team-high 21 points after halftime, finished the run with a driving layup.

Jason Price was the star for UW-Whitewater with 26 points and drained a three-pointer that pulled the Warhawks back within 71-60 with 7:27 remaining before the biggest of the Pointers' runs.

Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King), who finished with 14 points and seven assists, drove the lane for a basket for the Pointers to start an 11-0 spurt as UW-Stevens Point pulled away. The Pointers scored seven of their points during the run from the free throw line. UW-Whitewater, meanwhile, made just one of its next nine shots from the field.

Price's shooting and UW-Whitewater's rebounding kept the game tight for the first half, but the Pointers solved both down the stretch. Price had 18 points in the first half and made six of his first seven shots, but he finished the game just two-for-nine. The rebounding totals also ended up even at 30 apiece as UW-Stevens Point grabbed 10 of the last 12 rebounds during the final 7:27 of the game.

Jon Krull finished with 20 points, including 14 in the first half, for the Pointers. Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) totaled 14 points and matched Nick Bennett's single-season school record with his 88th three-pointer of the year.

Kori Vernon added 10 points and nine rebounds for UW-Whitewater, while Josh King had 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.