STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Junior Josiah Butler (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) had 17 of his career-high 31 in the second half as the No. 14 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (13-1, 3-0) defeated No. 21 UW-Oshkosh (11-3, 2-1) by an 84-73 final.
 
Butler poured in a career-best 31 points going 18-for-18 from the free-throw line, tied for the third-most free throws in a game in program history. He also tied Grant Manz (Kiel, Wis./Kiel) for the team-lead with nine rebounds. Logan Baumgartner (Medford, Wis./Medford) and Max Raimer (Sun Prairie, Wis./East) were both in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Seth Miron (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) scored the first points of the game, but the Tians reeled off a 14-3 run before Butler made his first field goal. James Jacobs (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) buried a three with 11:33 left in the first half to lift the lid on the UWSP bucket.
 
Raimer and Butler had four points each as UWSP got within 24-20. Miron and Baumgartner each hit a three late in the first half and UWSP trailed 44-40 at the break.
 
Butler buried his lone three-pointer of the game with 17:10 to go for a 49-46 lead. Baumgartner nailed a three and, after a pair of free throws by Butler, UWSP led 60-58 midway through the second half.
 
Isaiah Moore (Chicago, Ill./Evanston Township) threw down a dunk with 6:27 to go as UWSP built a 69-63 lead. Moore had a pair of layups as the advantage grew to 10. Manz had two key blocks in the final five minutes of the game to keep the momentum on the Pointers' side. Butler had six free-throws in the final 73 seconds of the game to seal the win.
 
The Pointers head to UW-Stout on Wednesday (Jan. 14) for a 7:00 p.m. conference tilt.