STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Seniors Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne), Alex Richard (Spring Green, WI/River Valley) and Joe Ritchay (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln) combined to score 59 points to power eighth-ranked UW-Stevens Point into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 88-56 victory over Concordia (Wis.) on Friday night at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.

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The senior trio shot 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) and outscored Concordia (Wis.) (19-10) in the game. With the win, UW-Stevens Point (22-5) advances to face Illinois Wesleyan, which defeated Dubuque 72-53 in the other first-round matchup of the night.

The Pointers are into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season on its home court. UWSP improves to 31-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 5-0 in the first round at home and 12-1 all-time against the Falcons.

UW-Stevens Point raced out to a 9-1 lead 3:10 into the game but Concordia (Wis.) hung around to get within 15-8. However, Richard capped an 11-0 Pointers' run with back-to-back-to-back layups to give UWSP a 26-8 lead.

With 5:20 to go, the Falcons were down 36-22 but the Pointers closed the half with a 12-3 spurt to take a 48-25 lead at halftime. UW-Stevens Point shot 79.2 percent (19-for-24) in the opening half, including 8-for-10 from behind the arc, on its way to its highest-scoring half of the season.

Concordia (Wis.) got within 23, 50-27, in the opening minute of the second half but that is as close as the Falcons would get the rest of the way. The Pointers would lead by as many as 32, the final margin, at three points in the second half.

Ryf led UW-Stevens Point with a career-high 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field. The senior guard made his first six three-pointers on the night and the six threes are also a career-high for Ryf, who had five rebounds and five assists.

Richard shot 9-for-10 from the field on his way to 21 points and five rebounds. Ritchay had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting and dished out five assists. Ryf, Richard and Ritchay scored 40 of UWSP's 48 first-half points and shot 16-for-19 (84.2 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

The Pointers shot 71.7 percent from the field in the game, the team's highest field-goal percentage in 55 games since UWSP shot 73.8 percent (31-for-42) in an 80-45 win at Edgewood on Nov. 18, 2013. UW-Stevens Point had 17 assists in the game and outscored Concordia (Wis.) 46-28 in the paint.

Bradley Prinsen scored a game-high 23 points for the Falcons and knocked down eight of his 10 shots from the floor. Prinsen also shot 6-for-7 from the free-throw line and was the only CUW player in double figures in the game.

In the first game of the night, four players scored in double figures for Illinois Wesleyan, as the Titans topped Dubuque 72-53. Bryce Dolan led the way with 16, including five three-pointers, while Trevor Seibring recorded a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.