SAINT PETER, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (19-8) saw its postseason run end with an 84-76 loss to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (21-7) in the NCAA Tournament first round.
 
Seth Miron (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) led the Pointers with 21 points. Josiah Butler (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) and Max Raimer (Sun Prairie, Wis./East) were also in double figures with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Carter Combs (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) led the Pointers with nine rebounds.
 
Butler opened the game with a three and, minutes later, his second three-pointer put UWSP ahead, 8-7. Raimer scored the Pointers' next eight points and UWSP had its largest lead of the game at 16-9. Miron scored UWSP's next four points, but UMHB made seven-straight field goals to take a 31-24 lead.
 
Logan Baumgarter hit a three late in the first half. Carter Combs (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds and the Pointers trailed, 37-29, at the half.
 
Grant Manz (Kiel, Wis./Kiel) had UWSP's first four points of the second half. Miron and Butler combined for 12 points, but UWSP couldn't chip away at the UMHB lead. Baumgartner buried a three and every time UWSP scored, the Crusaders answered to maintain a double-digit lead.
 
With 5:51 to go, Miron hit his first three to get the deficit to 10 at 70-60. He drilled two more from beyond the arc, but the deficit was still 10, 78-68, with 1:27 to go. Butler and Drew Daoust (Brussels, Wis./Southern Door) each nailed a three and a Combs layup got the Pointers within five with 30 seconds remaining.
 
The Pointers finished the year with a 19-7 record and made their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance. Butler ends his junior year with 1,244 career points, the 20th-most in program history.