STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (6-3) came out on top of a seesaw affair at Quandt Fieldhouse to hand Trine (6-1) a 53-49 loss, the first of the season for the Thunder.
 
Jake Buchanan (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) led all scorers with 15 points, his ninth-straight game in double figures to start the season. AJ Makinen (Waterford, Wis./Muskego) added nine points and Brennan Timm (West Bend, Wis./West) led the Pointers with seven rebounds.
 
Buchanan had four points early as both offenses sputtered to a 6-6 tie more than eight minutes into the game. Zach Mootz (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) buried a three with 7:54 left in the first half to tie the game at 13-all.
 
Makinen drilled a triple with just under five minutes to go sparking a 9-2 run by UWSP to end the half.
 
Elijah Vander Velden (Huntington, Ind./Wabash) scored UWSP's first points of the second half as the lead remained two possessions early. Luke Warden (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) scored his second bucket of the game as UWSP regained the lead midway through the second half.
 
Buchanan hit a big three-pointers with 8:18 to go as the Pointers pushed the lead back to five, 42-37. Buchanan again hit from deep with 2:24 remaining. The Thunder got within two with less than a minute remaining, but it was Buchanan coming up with a huge block on the potential go-ahead three-pointer to seal the win.
 
The Pointers return to action next Wednesday (Dec. 14) with a 7:00 p.m. game at MSOE.