STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Alex Richard (Spring Green, WI/River Valley) and Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) combined for 36 points and Richard had his first career double-double to lead the No. 23-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team to a 64-50 victory over UW-Eau Claire in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams on Wednesday evening at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.

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Richard had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Pelkofer had 17 on 7-for-10 shooting as UW-Stevens Point (4-2, 1-0 WIAC) won its seventh consecutive WIAC opener. The win was the 28th victory in the last 29 meetings against UW-Eau Claire (3-4, 0-1 WIAC) since 2002 and was UWSP's 71st win in its last 78 home games.

The Blugolds used an 8-0 run to trim a 14-point deficit to six with 8:02 remaining. UW-Eau Claire got as close as five with 6:46 remaining but UW-Stevens Point responded with a 9-2 run to re-establish a double-digit lead with 4:25 to go. The Pointers led by double figures for the rest of the game.

After a low-scoring start to the game, UW-Stevens Point led 19-18 with 2:27 to go until halftime but then stretched its lead to eight at the break. The Pointers closed the half on a 10-3 run and made their final five shots of the half. Richard scored seven points in the final 2:47 of the first half.

After scoring just two points in the first half, Pelkofer scored UWSP's first 12 points of the second half and had 15 of his 17 in the final 20 minutes. His 12 straight points and a bucket by Luke Zuiker (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) gave UW-Stevens Point its largest lead of the night at 43-28 with 12:47 remaining.

Richard was 6-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne) added nine points for UW-Stevens Point, which outscored UW-Eau Claire 20-4 in the paint in the first half and 36-18 in the game.
Eric Effertz led a balanced UW-Eau Claire attack with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Lewis Mau and Tyson Kalien each had nine for the Blugolds, who held a 19-8 advantage in bench scoring.

UW-Stevens Point shot 48.9 percent from the field in the game, including 57.9 percent after the break. UW-Eau Claire finished shooting at a 40.5 percent clip but was 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Pointers held a 10-2 advantage in second chance points.

UWSP returns to action at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse on Saturday, Dec. 6 by hosting UW-Superior for Youth/Honor America Day at 3 p.m. There will also be a donation for Toys for Tots at the game on Saturday.