Box Score Washington University pulled away from the nation's top-ranked team in the second half and stunned UW-Stevens Point 78-66 in an NCAA Division III men's basketball sectional semifinal on Friday in Stevens Point.

The Bears used a 16-2 run midway through the half and advanced to their first sectional championship since 1995. Washington, ranked 10th in Division III, is now 23-4 and will face Hope on Saturday at 7 p.m. with a berth in its first-ever final four at stake.

UW-Stevens Point had a 10-game winning streak snapped and finished the year 26-3. The Pointers, who won national titles in 2004 and 2005, had the second-longest NCAA tournament win streak in Division III history snapped at 12 games.

“By the time you get this far into the season, you didn't get here without being able to win on the road,” Washington coach Mark Edwards said. “I think it's just a matter of the kids believing in themselves.”

Neither team held bigger than a five-point lead in the first half with the brief exception of a six-point margin UW-Stevens Point owned for 10 seconds at 19-13 on a three-point play by Jon Krull with 6:19 left. Krull later hit three straight three-pointers for a 28-24 lead with 2:32 left in the half. UW-Stevens Point's Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) drove the length of the court for a layup and a four-point lead with six seconds left, but Washington's Phil Syvertsen followed with his only basket of the game, barely beating the buzzer with a three-pointer from the right corner that cut the lead to 30-29 at halftime.

Washington used a five-point spurt early in the second half as Tyler Nading made a pair of free throws and Nick Nikitas followed with a three-pointer for a 40-36 lead with 15:02 remaining. The Bears never relinquished the lead from that point as UW-Stevens Point struggled all night from three-point range, hitting just eight-for-36 from behind the arc.

“We thought they were a very good shooting team and that was the focus of our preparation,” Edwards said. “We tried to limit the outside shooting and we've played against quite a few teams in our conference that are that way.”

Nikitas hit another big three-pointer to give Washington a 53-46 lead with 10:11 left. After Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) hit a short turnaround jumper to pull the Pointers within five one minute later, the Bears went on their decisive run. Washington outscored the Pointers 16-2 over the next five minutes as UW-Stevens Point missed all six shot attempts and had three turnovers.

“I think they just caught a really good rhythm,” Krull said of the Bears. “We got away from them a couple times early, but their shooters caught a rhythm.”

“My impression is that we had periods of time where everybody stepped up for two or three possessions,” Edwards said. “I think that's our basketball. That's the way we play and I think we were effective with it tonight.”

The Bears had a big night at the free throw line, making 24 of their first 25 attempts. They missed their final five tries to finish 24-for-30 for the game. UW-Stevens Point, meanwhile, was 12-for-12 from the line. The Pointers finished the season with a new Division III single-season record at 82.3 percent, eclipsing UW-Oshkosh's record of 81.8 percent set in 1998.

Tyler Nading had 21 points and Troy Ruths added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears, who shot 56.0 percent in the second half and 50.0 percent for the game. Krull had a team-high 17 for the Pointers, who shot just 34.3 percent in the second half and 37.1 percent for the game. UW-Stevens Point was four-for-21 on three-pointers in the second half, hitting three in the final three minutes.

“If you would have told me we would have shot 34 percent from the field, and 19 percent from the three in the second half I would have said it's just not possible,” Pointers' coach Bob Semling said. “This team, it's never happened. It hasn't happened all year. We just didn't play our best.”