STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Fifth-ranked St. Thomas shut down the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team as the Tommies defeated the Pointers 56-38 on Tuesday evening at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.

Box Score

St. Thomas (7-1) held UW-Stevens Point (4-4) to 28.3 percent shooting in the game and had three players in double figures, led by Grant Shaeffer's 15 points. The game was the Pointers' fourth against ranked teams already this season and dropped UWSP to 12-10 against top-five teams since 2007.

The Tommies led 35-30 with 15:23 to play in the second half before going on an extended 17-4 run to lead by 18 with 3:04 to go. Shaeffer and Cortez Tillman combined to score 19 points in the second half as St. Thomas pulled away during the run.

St. Thomas outscored UW-Stevens Point 14-2 in the paint and 12-0 in second-chance points in the second half. The Tommies held the Pointers to five field goals and 20.8 percent shooting after leading by just four at the half.

Shaeffer scored a game-high 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, Taylor Montero added 13 points, four rebounds, two blocks and three steals, and Tillman contributed 12 points for St. Thomas. The trio combined to shoot 15-for-25 (60.0 percent) from the floor and score 40 of the Tommies' 56 points.

Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) led UW-Stevens Point with nine points and six rebounds. Brett Tauber (Madison, WI/Memorial) made a pair of three-pointers to score a career-high eight points, while Zack Goedeke (Valders, WI/Valders) also added eight.

St. Thomas just 52.2 percent (12-for-23) in the opening half and cooled off in the second half to finish at 45.1 percent (23-for-51). The Tommies held a 36-29 advantage on the boards in the game, led by Ryan Saarela's 14 rebounds.

UW-Stevens Point travels to Madison to face Edgewood on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. before heading to Phoenix, Ariz. for a pair of games on Dec. 29-30.