La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned its 15th straight win over UW-Stevens Point Saturday night with an 80-77 victory in Mitchell Hall.
UWL improves to 13-5 overall and 3-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers, ranked 23rd on D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, drops to 14-4 overall and 4-4-3 in the conference.
Dustin Derousseau finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
UW-Stevens Point last earned a win in the series with a 76-62 victory on January 27, 2018.
The Pointers led by as many as 11 points in the first half at 25-14 with 12:26 left on Carter Combs' three-pointer. The Eagles cut the lead to 27-24 with 8:32 remaining on a
Jacob Butler layup. After Josiah Butler's three-point field goal gave UW-Stevens Point a 30-24 lead,
Sam Grieger's two jumpers cut the lead to 30-28.
UW-Stevens Point later took a 41-31 lead with 3:03 remaining on a pair of Seth Miron free throws. The Pointers led, 47-42, at halftime.
Butler's layup with 13:16 left gave UW-Stevens Point a 59-50 advantage when UWL went on a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 60-57 with 10:09 remaining on a Butler three-pointer. Grieger's two free throws with 8:21 left cut the lead to 62-61, but five straight points from UW-Stevens Point extended the lead to 67-61 with 7:12 remaining.
Logan Baumgartner's layup with 6:12 left gave UW-Stevens Point a 69-62 lead, but UWL used an 8-0 run to take a 70-69 lead on Grieger's jumper with 3:16 remaining. Miron's three-point play gave the Pointers a 72-70 lead before Grieger's three-point play returned the lead to UWL at 73-72 with 2:20 remaining. The Eagles would not trail the rest of the game.
After a UW-Stevens Point turnover, Grieger's jumper with 1:12 left made it 75-72. Butler's jumper for the Pointers cut it to 75-74, but UWL's Butler responded with a three-pointer with :12 remaining for a 78-74 lead. The Pointers' Butler was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws with :06 left to cut the lead to 78-77. Grieger made two free throws for 80-77 lead and UW-Stevens Point turned the ball over on its final possession.
Sam Grieger scored 29 points in Saturday's win.
UWL shot 48.2% from the field, including 27.3% (six-of-22) from three-point range, and 66.7% (20-of-30) at the free throw line.
Grieger led four players in double figures with 29 points while finishing with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He was 11-of-12 at the line.
Dustin Derousseau totaled 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while Butler finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
JJ Paider finished with 12 points.
UW-Stevens Point shot 39.3% from the field, including 33.3% (11-of-33) from three-point range, and 90.0% (18-of-20) at the line.
Butler led the Pointers with 34 points while Baumgartner finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 28 at UW-River Falls at 7 p.m.
