PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The host Pioneers missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (11-4, 3-1) knocked off No. 7 UW-Platteville (13-2, 3-1) by a 66-64 final on Wednesday.
 
Senior Blake Ehrke (Deerfield, Wis./Deerfield) led the Pointers with 21 points, including six vital points for a late lead.  Garrett Nelson (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam) added a career-high 18 points.
 
Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) was also in double figures with 11 points, including the game-winning three-pointers with 53 seconds left.  He tied with Brandon Spray (Prairie Du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) for a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Nelson rattled off six-straight points as UWSP tied the game at 8-8 early.  Spray completed an and-one and Aaron Knez (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls) drilled a three to put UWSP in front 14-8.  Ehrke scored 11-consecutive points for UWSP as the Pointers held a narrow lead at 30-28.  Nelson buried a three, but UWSP was held without a pint the final 3:23 off the half and trailed 34-33 at the break.
 
Midway through the second half, Zach Mootz (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) hit a three and Nelson scored seven in a row for a nine-point lead at 55-46.  Ehrke hit from behind the arc to halt a 9-0 run by the Pioneers beginning a stretch of six-straight for Ehrke.  With 53 seconds remaining, a Bublitz triple put the Pointers ahead 66-61.  After the Pioneers scored three points to cut the lead to two, an offensive rebound gave UWP the final possession of regulation.  A three-pointer for the win at the buzzer was no good as the Pointers prevailed.
 
UWSP faces UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Jan. 18) at home. Tip-off in Quandt Fieldhouse is set for 7:00 p.m.  UWSP students in attendance will have a chance to win $500 at halftime as part of the Docs vs. Dogs challenge sponsored by Marshfield Clinic Health System.