STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Following a 30-minute delay to start, the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (3-11, 0-7) treated the fans at Quandt Fieldhouse to 45 minutes of high-quality basketball in an 85-79 loss in overtime to UW-Whitewater (12-7, 5-3).
 
Jake Buchanan (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) posted a season-high 23 points to lead a quintet of UWSP players in double figures.  Garrett Nelson (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam) added 14 with Zach Mootz (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) (13), Brennan Timm (West Bend, Wis./West) (11) and Cliff McCray (Madison, Wis./West) (11) also in double-digit scoring.
 
Buchanan drilled a three to get UWSP on the board, but UWW went ahead 8-3 early.  Timm completed an and-one and five-straight points by Mootz gave UWSP a brief one-point lead.  McCray poured in five-straight points to give UWSP an 16-15 edge midway through the first.
 
McCray hit from behind the arc with 4:38 left in the half to spark UWSP to a 17-6 run to end the half.  Nelson drained a three-pointer to cap the run as UWSP took a 39-30 lead into the break.
 
Darrius Bolden (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) nailed a triple as part of a 9-4 burst early as UWSP extended the lead to 14. Buchanan and McCray buried threes as the Pointers kept the advantage near 10.  The Warhawks chipped away and eventually took a two-point lead with 1:25 left.
 
Timm tied the game at 65-65 with a layup with 1:02 left.  Following a bucket by UWW, Buchanan swished a three to put UWSP up with 29 seconds to go. UWW responded with a three and Mootz tied the game with 10 seconds left and the game headed to overtime.
 
Nelson completed an and-one early in the extra session.  Mootz and Buchanan scored on UWSP's next possessions for a 77-77 tie.  Buchanan again hit a shot to tie it at 79-79 with 1:20 left in OT. But UWW scored the final six points to pull out the win.
 
UWSP will travel to UW-Stout on Wednesday (Feb. 2) for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off following a bye weekend.