EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (17-8, 11-3) suffered a heartbreaking 55-54 loss at UW-Eau Claire (12-13, 4-10) to conclude the regular season on Saturday.
 
Junior Canon O'Heron (Bangor, Wis./Bangor) led the Pointers with 14 points.  Matt Koerner (West Bend, Wis./West) added 12 as all UWSP points were scored by six different players.  Brett Tauber (Madison, Wis./Memorial) led UWSP with six rebounds.
 
O'Heron got the Pointers on the board in the opening minute, but a 12-4 run by the hosts put UWSP behind 12-6.  Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove) and Koerner hit back-to-back threes and O'Heron tied the game at 14-14.
 
Koerner ended an 11-4 run by UWEC with another three just 5:15 before halftime.  MJ Delmore (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) scored in the final minute, but the Pointers trailed 34-25 at the half.
 
O'Heron, Tauber and Delmore combined for seven early points as UWSP closed the gap to four.  Near the midpoint of the half, Koerner drained another three to pull the Pointers even at 41-41.  Koerner completed an and-1 and Tauber scored four-straight to give UWSP a 48-45 lead.
 
Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb) nailed a three-pointer with less than four minutes to go and buried another in the final minute to put the Pointers up one.  With just seven second remaining, UWEC's George Diekelman made a driving layup for the game-winner.
 
The Pointers will be the two-seed in next week's WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's).  UWSP will host a semifinal game at Quandt Fieldhouse on Friday (Feb. 23) at 7:00 p.m.  Tickets go on sale on Monday at 8:00 a.m.