Pointers Shoot Past La Crosse; Capture 25th League Title and Tournament’s Top Seed

Box Score

LA CROSSE - UW-Stevens Point used 17 points from Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee, Rufus King) and 12 points from Matt Moses (Fond du Lac, St. Mary Springs) and Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids, Lincoln) to secure the 25th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men's basketball title in school history on Wednesday evening.

The Pointers, who needed help to secure the outright title, received it in the form of UW-Whitewater and UW-Platteville losses.

The win gives the Pointers not only the outright title but the No. 1 seed in next week's WIAC basketball tournament. The title is also the seventh in the past 10 seasons for the Pointers.

The Pointers jumped ahead early in the first half, but held just a two-point lead, 22-20, with 10:29 remaining before Jared Jenkins (Milwaukee, Rufus King) scored on an old-fashioned three-point play and Moses added a jumper, pushing UWSP's lead to seven. The Pointers increased their lead to 15 down the stretch and took a 10-point lead into halftime, 42-32.

In the second half, the Pointers opened on a 9-4 run to pull ahead by 15. Down the stretch, the Pointers kept the Eagles at bay, as La Crosse got no closer than 10 as the Pointers cruised to the 16-point victory.
Jenkins added 11 points off the bench for UWSP and Jerome Wotachek (Mishicot, Mishicot) collected a team-high seven rebounds.

Trevor Stratton led the way for UW-La Crosse with 19 points off the bench. He also recorded a team-high seven rebounds on the evening.

The fifth-ranked Pointers (21-3, 14-1 WIAC) close out the regular-season on Saturday, Feb. 21 against fourth-ranked UW-Platteville. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Bennett Court.

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