NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (0-1) dropped the season-opener at St. Olaf (1-1) by a 66-50 final on Wednesday.
 
Senior Garrett Nelson (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam) led the Pointers with 16 points. Peter Timmerman (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic) went 3-for-3 from three-point range in the first half and ended with 11 points.  Elijah Vander Velden (Huntington, Ind./Wabash) was also in double figures with 10 points.  He had three blocks.
 
Timmerman buried back-to-back threes early to give the Pointers a 6-4 edge.  After a pair of Nelson throws, the Oles rattled off nine-straight to put UWSP in a 15-8 hole.  Nelson responded with a personal 5-0 burst to get UWSP within two.
 
With 8:13 left in the first half, Nelson hit another bucket to get the Pointers within one at 25-24.  From there, the teams traded big runs.  St. Olaf reeled off eight-straight before the Pointers posted the final seven of the half to make it 33-31 at the break.
 
Nelson ripped off five-straight points for UWSP to begin the second half for a one-point lead.  Just over five minutes in a Ryan Genrich (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) layup gave UWSP a 42-39 lead. 
 
The Oles outscored UWSP 27-8 the rest of the game to pull away for the win.  The Pointers made just three field goals over the final 14:40 of the game.
 
UWSP heads back to Minnesota next Wednesday (Nov. 17) for a 7:00 p.m. matchup against Bethel.