Box Score

STEVENS POINT – The seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team finished the game on a 20-3 run to sneak past UW-Eau Claire 57-44 tonight at Quandt Fieldhouse.

Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) (Sr.-Sussex/Hamilton) became the 27th men's basketball player to score 1,000 career points after dropping in the first four points tonight. The bad thing for the Pointers was that they only had four points 13 minutes into the game. The Blugolds had their biggest lead of the game of 19-4 with 7:23 left in the first half.

The Pointers then scored the next five points aided by a Drew Jackson (Milwaukee/Rufus King) (Jr.-Milwaukee/Rufus King) three-point play. The Blugolds still led by 11 with six minutes left in the half, but Stevens Point finished strong outscoring the Blugolds 11-4 in the final six minutes to go into halftime trailing 25-21.

The Pointers shot just 35 % in the first half on 8-of-23 shooting. The 21 points scored were the lowest in a half this season by Stevens Point. It is the lowest since they only scored 20 against UW-Stout February 23, 2006. Eau Claire shot 50 % in the first half and had a big edge on the glass 19-8.

The Blugolds held on to the lead for the first eight minutes of the second half, but it only got as high as seven points. The Pointers went on a 6-0 run and took their first lead of the game following a Matt Moses (Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) (So.-Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) layup that made the score 37-36 with 11:43 left in the game.

Eau Claire regained the lead and went up 41-37 with 9:17 on the clock. The layup by the Blugolds' Dan Beyer at 9:17 was the last field goal Eau Claire made the rest of the game as Stevens Point proceeded to go on another 6-0 to take the lead and never lose it the rest of the way. Stevens Point scored 20 of the final 23 points of the game to win by a score of 57-44.

Stevens Point shot 60 % in the second half to finish the game at 47 %. The Pointers also had a 16-8 scoring edge in the paint in the second half. The Blugolds shot just 27 % in the second half to finish at 38 % for the game. The Pointers forced 17 Eau Claire turnovers, which in turn led to 17 points.

Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) was the only Pointer to score in double-figures as he had a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) (Jr.-Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) had solid performance with eight points, a team-high seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks. Drew Jackson (Milwaukee/Rufus King) had eight points and four assists off the bench. Dan Beyer led the way for the Blugolds with 17 points.

The Pointers improve to 14-3 overall and 6-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Blugolds fall to 10-7 overall and 4-4 in conference action. The Pointers have won 14 straight over Eau Claire.

The Pointers will look to avenge an earlier loss this season when they travel to face UW-Oshkosh Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at approximately 3 p.m. following the women's game.