Box Score

EAU CLAIRE – The ninth-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team led the final 36 minutes of tonight's game to top UW-Eau Claire by a score of 89-68 at Zorn Arena.

The Pointers improve to 18-4 overall and 10-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Pointers are in a second place tie with UW-Platteville, who fell to UW-Whitewater tonight, and UW-Oshkosh. Stevens Point has beaten its last three opponents by an average of 26 points. The Blugolds fall to a record of 11-12 overall and 5-9 in the conference. The Pointers have won 15 straight against the Blugolds.

Eau Claire came out and scored the first four points of the game, but the Pointers scored the next five, capped off by a Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) (Jr.-Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) three-point play. Stevens Point then went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) (Jr.-Minocqua/Lakeland) had four of the seven points. The Blugolds came back to tie the game on a couple of occasions, but the Pointers distanced themselves with a 10-0 run with eight minutes left in the first half. Louis Hurd (Portage/Portage) (Fr.-Portage) scored six of the 10 points during that run. Stevens Point went up by as much as 15 and led by a score of 45-34 at halftime.

Both teams shot well in the first half with the Pointers shooting 55 % and Blugolds shooting 59 %. Both benches came up big in the half with the Pointers having the edge 17-15.

Eau Claire made a rally at the start of the second half and cut the lead down to four with 15:35 remaining. The Pointers extended their lead back to 10 less than two minutes later. The margin hovered around 10 through the middle portion of the second half. Stevens Point turned it on later in the half with a 13-2 run to extend its lead to 21. That would be the final margin as the Pointers went on to win 89-68.

Stevens Point shot 72 % in the second half to finish at 63 % for the game. The 63 % is the best shooting performance by the Pointers this season. The Pointers were 10-for-21 from beyond the three-point line and were 11-for-15 at the charity stripe. Eau Claire shot 58 % from the field, but was just 3-for-10 on three-point attempts.

The Pointers had five players score in double-figures for the second consecutive game. Pete Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) led the way with 20 points, his highest point total since the season opener. Matt Moses (Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) (So.-Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) added a career-high 16 points off the bench. Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) had 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Scott Hoelzel (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) (So.-Kaukauna) matched a career-high with 12 points and Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) (Sr.-Sussex/Hamilton) added 10 points and four rebounds. Dan Beyer scored a game-high 23 points for the Blugolds.

The Pointers will host second-ranked and conference-leading UW-Whitewater Saturday at Quandt Fieldhouse. The action is set to begin at approximately 5 p.m. following the women's game.