Box Score STEVENS POINT, Wis. - Dan Tillema (Randolph, WI/Randolph/Minnesota-Duluth) poured in a career-high 35 points as the 25th-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team held off a late rally from 13th-ranked UW-Whitewater, coming away with a 79-77 victory Wednesday evening at Bennett Court.

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After the undefeated Warhawks broke into the scoring column first, the Pointers put together a 24-6 run over the next five minutes for a 16-point lead. Trevor Hass (New London, WI/New London/Augustana (SD)) connected on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc while tacking on a free throw in UWSP's 24-point outburst.

UWW fought back with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half, going on a 20-9 run as senior Chris Davis accounted for 10 points, bringing the Warhawks within five.

With two minutes remaining, D. Tillema put the Pointers up eight with a three-pointer, but the Warhawks scored the last five points of the half, cutting the gap to three, 36-33, in favor of UWSP.

The first five minutes of the second half were an indication on how the rest of the game would play out as it featured two lead changes and two ties. UWW jumped out to its biggest lead of the game at six with just under 15 minutes remaining.

UWSP once again turned to D. Tillema to bring it back in the game and the senior answered. He tallied 10 of the next 12 points for UWSP but UWW's Davis scored eight points in the stretch as well. At the 11:40 mark, both teams were deadlocked, 53-53, for the seventh time of the night.

Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne) broke the tie with a three-pointer, vaulting the Pointers on a 17-7 run for a 10-point advantage, their largest lead of the second half, 70-60.

UWSP held a comfortable lead until the three-minute mark when Davis knocked down his third three-pointer of the evening, closing the gap to four in favor of the Pointers.

Quardell Young's layup cut UWSP's lead to 79-77 with just under two minutes left, setting up dramatic finish.

A UWSP turnover with 17 seconds remaining gave the Warhawks an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, but an open three point attempt by Alex Merg came up short, giving the purple and gold a 79-77 victory.

In a game that featured seven lead changes and seven ties, both teams shot the team very well. In the first half, UWSP connected on 61.9 percent of its shots and followed up shooting 73.7 percent, good for 67.5 for the game. UWW finished shooting 50.9 percent from the field.

D. Tillema led the way with a career-high 35 points on 11-of-16 shooting including 4-of-8 from three and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. He also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Hass and Tyler Tillema (Randolph, WI/Randolph) also scored in double figures with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Davis tallied 41 points on 15-of-22 field goal attempts, while grabbing seven rebounds.

UW-Stevens Point (7-2, 3-0 WIAC) returns to action as it squares off on with another undefeated team, traveling to Edgewood College on Sunday, Dec. 18. Game time is set for 4 p.m.