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Pointers Win
Overtime Thriller to Advance to NCAA Final Four
Box Score
Maybe this was just the way it was supposed to
happen for the UW-Stevens Point men�s basketball team to reach its first
NCAA Division III Final Four.
After having its two previous Elite Eight
appearances end on heartbreaking buzzer beaters, this time the opponent�s
last-second shot bounced off the rim as the Pointers defeated Lawrence 82-81
in an overtime thriller in Tacoma, Wash. to advance to Salem, Va. for the
final four.
Junior Eric Maus hit the go-ahead basket for the
Pointers with a baseline jumper with five seconds left and the Vikings, with
no timeouts left, raced up the court and Jason Hollinbeck�s open look
bounced off as the Pointers hung on for the dramatic win.
UW-Stevens Point will play John Carroll (Ohio) in
the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. central time. New England Small College
Athletic Conference rivals Williams (Mass.) and Amherst (Mass.) meet in the
other semifinal at 5 p.m. The Pointers had fell one game short in 2000 when
UW-Eau Claire hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer and in 1997 when
Nebraska Wesleyan hit a buzzer-beater to advance.
Saturday's game was filled with dramatic moments
as UW-Stevens Point�s Nick Bennett drained a long three-pointer with nine
seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 72-72 after Lawrence�s Dan
Evans had hit a fallaway jumper with the shot clock running out for a
three-point lead with 17 seconds left. The Vikings turned the ball over with
one second left, but UW-Stevens Point�s long shot missed to send the game to
overtime.
In the extra period, the teams traded one-point
leads in the final two minutes as Bennett hit a shot to put the Pointers
ahead 78-77 with 1:06 left. Chris Braier put the Vikings back ahead with two
free throws with 46 seconds left, but Jason Kalsow hit a jumper to give
UW-Stevens Point an 80-79 lead with 31 seconds left. Braier followed on the
other end with a layup to put Lawrence in front 81-80 with 20 seconds
remaining before Maus� game-winner with five seconds left.
Hollinbeck�s miss at the buzzer was one of only
two missed shots all night for the junior, who finished six-for-eight from
three-point range for 18 points. The Vikings were red-hot from behind the
arc all night, hitting 15 of 23 attempts, including eight of 10 in the first
half while building a 10-point first half lead.
UW-Stevens Point�s Tamaris Relerford cut the lead
to 40-39 with a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer, marking the second
straight day the Pointers went into the locker room following a half-court
shot after Jon Krull did it on Friday.
The biggest lead of the entire second half was
four points as Lawrence led 59-55 with 10:29 left before two free throws by
Bennett that, incidentally, made him the 25th player in school history to
score 1,000 career points. The free throws sparked an 8-0 Pointer run to put
them ahead 63-59 with 6:27 left before Evans hit a three-pointer for
Lawrence to pull the Vikings back within one.
Lawrence went ahead 68-65 with 3:05 left on
another three-pointer by Evans, but the Pointers got a steal and layup from
Jon Krull to pull within one. Similar to the end of overtime, neither team
missed in the final minute of regulation as Braier gave Lawrence a
three-point lead with 1:04 left and Bennett hit a layup with 47 seconds left
to cut it to 70-69 before Evans� shot with 17 seconds left and Bennett�s
game-tying three-pointer.
Bennett scored a game-high 25 points and totaled
62 points in the sectional tournament after a career-high 37 points on
Friday. Kalsow added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Pointers, while Chris
MacGillis had 22 points for Lawrence and Evans had 10 points, all in the
second half.
It was the 34th meeting between the two schools
that are 70 miles apart and first outside the state of Wisconsin. UW-Stevens
Point has now beaten the Vikings 13 straight times with Lawrence�s last win
coming in 1954.
The Pointers also qualified
for the 1983-84 NAIA national championship game and are now 9-3 all-time in
NCAA tournament games. |
