STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (6-5) ended the first half on a 12-3 run and never relinquished the lead in a 73-60 home victory over Illinois Wesleyan (7-5) to wrap up non-conference play.
 
Darrius Bolden (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) led all scorers with 18 points. Malik Abdul-Wahid (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) was also in double figures with 14 points and led the Pointers with five rebounds. Seth Miron (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) and Josiah Butler (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) completed the quartet of Pointers in double figures with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
Bolden hit a three to get UWSP on the board and Abdul-Wahid made a layup for the first lead of the day, 5-4. Cal Krohn (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) completed an and-one and Ryan Genrich (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) hit a bucket to tie the game at 10-all.
 
Butler nailed a three to halt an 8-2 run by the Titans. With 4:25 left in the first half, Butler scored a jumper to tie the game at 25-25. Abdul-Wahid, Logan Baumgartner (Medford, Wis./Medford) and Jake Buchanan (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) each hit from behind the arc and UWSP led 40-33 at the half.
 
Abdul-Wahid and Miron each made a field goal to open the second half as the lead grew to 11 less than a minute in. Abdul-Wahid drained a three to spark a 7-0 burst by the Pointers as the advantage was 53-39.
 
The game halted into a free-throw shooting contest and the Pointers hit 16-of 24 over the final 10:51 of the game to hang onto the lead in the win. In the game, the teams combined to shoot 61 free throws.
 
The Pointers open conference play on the road on Wednesday (Jan. 3). Tip-off at UW-Stout is slated for 7:00 p.m.