STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball (13-10, 7-6) held on to a slim lead and defeated visiting UW-Platteville (8-16, 1-12) on Wednesday night, 61-56, to run the home winning streak against the Pioneers to eight-straight in the regular season.
 
Senior Bryce Williams (Maple Grove, Minn./Spring Lake Park) led the Pointers with 15 points going 4-for-7 from deep and converting an and-one late in the second half.  Fellow senior Brad Freeborn (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) scored 10 points and four other Pointers had eight or more points.
 
Sophomore Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove) hit a three in the opening minute of play as UWSP jumped ahead 5-0.  Nelson hit another bucket to end an 8-0 run by UWP. Near the midpoint of the first half, Freeborn and Williams hit triples on three-straight possessions to open a 19-13 advantage.
 
Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) got on the board at the 7:19 mark of the first half and converted the free throw to complete the and-one.  Two minutes later, Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb) hit from deep and the lead grew to nine.  Williams hit another three to end a brief five-point run by the Pioneers and the Pointers lead by four at the half.
 
Fredrickson was good from behind the arc at the 13:03 point of the second half as the UWSP defense held UWP without a point for seven-and-a-half minutes to open the second.
 
The Pioneers then went on an 18-5 run to put the Pointers down three with 4:33 remaining.  Williams answered with six of the Pointers' next eight points to regain the lead for good.  Nelson hit four-straight free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
 
UWSP will play UW-La Crosse at home on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. for Senior Night.  Fans are encouraged to stick around following the game to hear from this year's senior class.