PHOENIX, Ariz. – Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) scored a game-high 18 points and the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team used a 9-0 run late in the second half to top Keene State 65-56 in the team's first game at the Arizona Shootout on Tuesday at the Phoenix Convention Center.
 
Box Score
 
In their first-ever meeting, UW-Stevens Point (6-4) and Keene State (6-2) were locked at 46-46 with 9:07 remaining before the Pointers went on a 9-0 run to lead 55-46 with 4:35 to go. The Owls got within five with 2:20 left but Luke Zuiker (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) and McGann hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions for the Pointers to put the game out of reach.
 
McGann finished with 18 points on 8-for-17 shooting and scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to lead UW-Stevens Point to the win. The senior also registered seven rebounds and four assists in the game.
 
Fellow senior Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) joined McGann in double figures, compiling 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Five other UWSP players scored between five and eight points.
 
Keene State, which was receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, had three players in double figures in the loss. Ty Nichols led the Owls with 13 points, Jeff Lunn had 12 and seven-footer Nate Howard totaled 10 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.
 
UW-Stevens Point held Keene State's leading scorer Nate Stitchell to 2-for-15 shooting and just seven points after the senior entered the game having scored in double figures in all seven games.
 
Howard scored all 10 of his points in the first half but eight UWSP players scored before the break as the Pointers took a 27-23 lead at the half. UW-Stevens Point shot 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from the field in the second half and was 6-for-12 from behind the arc after the break.
 
McGann scored six consecutive UWSP points early in the second half and Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) drained a three-pointer to give the Pointers a 36-29 lead with 15:28 on the clock. The Owls scored the next six points to climb within one, only for Brad Freeborn (River Falls, WI/River Falls) and Pelkofer to hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back to seven.
 
Despite never leading in the second half, Keene State tied the game at 46-46 before four points from McGann and a three-pointer by Brett Tauber (Madison, WI/Memorial) stretch the UW-Stevens Point lead to nine.
 
UW-Stevens Point plays its second and final game at the tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 30 against Hamilton (NY) at 7 p.m. CT.