Box Score

STEVENS POINT - UW-Stevens Point got 22 points from Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) (Minocqua) and 18 from Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) (Wisconsin Rapids) as the Pointers defeated the Johnnies of St. John's University 97-70 in the 2008-09 season opener for both teams.

The Pointers overcame an early 14-5 deficit and finally took the lead on a three-pointer by Rortvedt with 12:17 remaining in the first half and continued to roll, building a 12 point by the end of the first stanza.

In the second half it was all Pointers, as St. John's could get no closer than 14 (62-48) with just over 16 minutes remaining in the game, and Stevens Point used 20 bench points to pull away for the 27 point victory, 97-70.

For the Pointers, Beamish added four rebounds to his 18 points and tallied six assists in the victory. Rortvedt added five rebounds and one steal to his night that included six three-pointers. Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) (Milwaukee) added six rebounds and seven assist to his 13 point night and Jordan Brezinski (Muskego, WI/Muskego) (Muskego) and Nick Krull (Marshall/Marshall) (Marshall) added 12 and 10 points respectively to finish as the other two Pointers to score in double figures.

For St. John's, Chris Schwartz led the way with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and added three steals and five rebounds for the Johnnies in the loss. Todd Herman and Aaron Burtzel were the other two Johnnies to score in double figures, as they added 18 and 14 respectively.

UW-Stevens Point (1-0) returns to action on Nov. 19 when they head to Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. match-up with Wisconsin Lutheran. St. John's (0-1) plays host to St. Cloud State on Nov. 22 in Collegeville, Minn.