WHITEWATER, Wis. – The No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team cut a 19-point second-half deficit to two late but No. 15 UW-Whitewater held on to win 69-63 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action on Saturday evening at Kachel Gymnasium in Williams Center.
 
Box Score
 
UW-Stevens Point (7-6, 0-2 WIAC) trailed UW-Whitewater (11-2, 2-0 WIAC) 53-34 with 7:32 remaining in the second half but fought back by scoring 29 of the next 41 points. However, the Warhawks made four consecutive free throws in the final 14 seconds to close out the game.
 
The Pointers trailed 65-58 with just 23 seconds on the clock but scored five points in a three-second span on a three-pointer by Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and a layup by Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall), which followed a five-second call on the Warhawks.
 
UW-Whitewater's Andre Brown was then fouled and nailed both free throws to make the score 67-63 in favor of the Warhawks with 14 seconds remaining. The Warhawks then got a stop and Drew Bryson made a pair at the line to end the scoring.
 
Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, including 10 of 12 for UW-Stevens Point at one point in the comeback. Fellow senior Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) shot 8-for-17 from the field on his way to 18 points. Luke Zuiker (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) came off the bench to score a career-high nine points in 17 minutes.
 
The Pointers shot 43.8 percent (14-for-32) in the second half to finish the game at 38.3 percent (23-for-60). The Warhawks shot 55.6 percent (25-for-45) from the floor and were 18-for-20 (90.0 percent) from the free-throw line.
 
Trinson White had 21 points and 13 rebounds to pace five double-digit scorers for UW-Whitewater. Cole Van Schyndel and Brown each had 11, while Jerry Jgobi and Haki Stampley each provided 10. The quintet scored 63 of UWW's 69 points.
 
Pelkofer started the game with the hot hand for UW-Stevens Point, scoring five quick points in a 7-0 start to the game for the Pointers. UW-Whitewater scored the next five points but the Pointers held the lead until the Warhawks went ahead for the first time at 23-22 with 4:02 left until halftime.
 
UW-Whitewater led by as many as five in the final two minutes of the opening half but a late jumper by Luke Zuiker (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) sent the Pointers to the locker room down three, 28-25. UW-Stevens Point led for 14:12 in the first half despite shooting just 32.1 percent (9-for-28) from the floor.
 
UW-Stevens Point hosts UW-Platteville on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.