Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 88-78 at UW-Stevens Point Saturday night in Quandt Fieldhouse in the regular season finale for both teams. The Eagles drop to 13-12 overall and finish 5-9 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers improve to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in the conference. It is UW-Stevens Point's 23rd straight home win over UWL.
Fifth-seeded UWL advances to the WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) and will play at fourth-seeded UW-Eau Claire Tuesday, February 21 in a first round game at 7 p.m. UW-Stevens Point will not play in the conference championship after a self-imposed postseason ban was announced in January.
UWL led by as many as five points in the first half, including 12-7 with 15:30 left in the first half after a
Kenny Finco layup. UW-Stevens Point took its largest lead of the first half at 23-18 with 10:13 remaining on a Ethan Bublitz three-pointer. The Pointers took a 46-43 halftime lead on Mark Nelson's three-pointer with :40 remaining.
The game was tied 59-59 with 13:32 left after a Bublitz layup, but six straight points from Finco gave UWL a 65-59 advantage with 10:54 remaining. The Eagles later led 71-65 with 7:59 left on a
Zach Schradle jumper, but the Pointers went on an 13-3 run to lead 78-74 with 3:10 remaining.
Ben Meinholz hit a pair of free throws for UWL to cut the margin to 78-76 with 2:51 left before UW-Stevens Point finished the game on a 10-2 run.
UWL shot 50.0% from the field Saturday, including 36.4% (eight-of-22) from three-point range, and 90.9% (10-of-11) at the free throw line. Schradle led the Eagles with 23 points and nine rebounds while also totaling four assists and two steals. Meinholz finished with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists while Finco totaled 12 points.
UW-Stevens Point shot 59.6% from the field, including 48.0% (12-of-25) from three-point range, and 73.7% (14-of-19) at the line. Bryce Williams led five players in double figures with 21 points while Bublitz and Nelson each scored 14. Zack Goedeke had 13 points and MJ Delmore 11.
UWL returns to action Tuesday, February 21 at UW-Eau Claire in a WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) first round game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
