Defending National Champion Pointers Take Out Titans

Defending NCAA Division III champion UW-Stevens Point outshot UW-Oshkosh by 20 percent from the field to record a 76-47 men's basketball win on Wednesday (Jan. 5) in Stevens Point.

The Pointers (10-2/3-1 WIAC), ranked eighth in the country by D3hoops.com, took the lead two minutes into play and never gave it back. They finished with 55 percent accuracy (26-47), while limiting the Titans to just 35 percent (17-48). Louis Hurd knocked down five of his six shots to top all players with 16 points.

The first seven baskets of the game were lay-ups, with the Pointers posting five of them. Dan Tillema accounted for four early points, including the hoop that put his team up, 10-4. Jordan Brezinski later converted inside to make it a 14-6 contest with 12:53 to play in the half.

Paul Wojahn (So. • Oshkosh) attempted to keep UW-Oshkosh (6-6/1-3 WIAC) alive with two free throws and a lay-in midway through the period. A deep jumper by T.J. Kellner (So. • Sheboygan) at the 8:19 mark pulled the Titans within six points (19-13).

UW-Stevens Point took over from there, rattling off a 15-6 scoring run to close the half. Brezinski tallied back-to-back hoops to make it a 29-15 cushion. Jordan Giordana's triple and Scott Hoelzel's lay-up stretched the margin to 34-19 at the break.

The combo of Hurd and Nick Krull helped the Pointers pull away in the second half. After Hurd's three-point play, Krull nailed a jumper and a lay-up. Tyler Tillema followed Hurd's foul shots with two buckets of his own to make it 47-26 with 14:55 on the clock.

The Titans took aim from outside the lane, getting five of their next six field goals on jump shots. Those five jumpers came from five different players, with Brian Washington's (So. • Waukesha) two-pointer cutting the deficit to 55-39.

UW-Oshkosh's final field goal of the contest came on John Flanigan's (Jr. • Oshkosh) mid-range shot with 8:40 left. The Pointers were also busy at the charity stripe, sinking seven attempts in the closing nine minutes. UW-Stevens Point finished hitting 90 percent (18-20) of its free throws while out-rebounding the Titans, 36-22.

No UW-Oshkosh player reached double figures as the team connected on 12-of-18 free throws (67 percent). The Titans made just 1-of-11 from three-point range (9 percent), compared to the Pointers' 55-percent efficiency (6-11).

Wojahn led UW-Oshkosh at eight points, with all of them coming in the first half. Kellner followed with seven points, in addition to six points and seven rebounds from Washington. UW-Stevens Point's leaders included nine points and eight boards by Dan Tillema and 11 points from Tyler Tillema.

The Titans venture to UW-Superior for their next contest on Saturday (Jan. 8).