UW-SP hockey, men's basketball solidify their spots in first place By DON FRIDAY Special to the Gazette The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's recent resurgence has the Pointers in position to be the team to beat for the regular season Northern Collegiate Hockey Association championship. Repeating road victories the previous weekend, the No. 5-ranked Pointers protected their home Willett Arena ice, edging UW-Superior (7-3-0, 15-6-0), 3-2, before a turnout of 1,389 fans on Friday and then turning back an upset bid on Saturday night by College of St. Scholastica of Duluth, Minn. (1-9-0, 6-15-0), 4-3, in overtime before a crowd of 1,342. The two wins improved UW-SP to 9-1-0 in the NCHA and 16-5-0 overall with a six-game winning streak. The Pointers remain at Willett this weekend, hosting UW-Stout (1-8-1, 5-15-1) on Friday and UW-River Falls (5-3-2, 11-5-4) on Saturday. Face-off both nights is at 7:30. The wins boosted the Pointers' lead in the NCHA to three points over runner-up St. Norbert College (7-2-1, 16-5-0) with four games remaining. The Green Knights were held to a 4-4 tie by River Falls last Friday. Norwich, Conn. supplanted St. Norbert in the No. 1 spot in this week's U.S. College Hockey Online Division 3 national poll. Norwich (16-2-1) received eight first place votes and 143 points to edge past the Knights who picked up seven first place votes and 142 points. Plattsburgh, N.Y. (17-3-0) is third with 116 points, followed by St. Thomas, Minn. (15-2-2) 105 and UW-SP 92. Pointers 3, UW-Superior 2 After opening a 3-0 lead, UW-SP had to withstand a furious comeback by the Yellowjackets, who scored both of their goals in the third period. Scoring goals for the Pointers were Ryan Maxson at 11:19 of the first period, Mikhail Salineko at 16:26 of the opening stanza and David Boehm at 14:40 of the second period. Pointer goalie Bob Gould, who was credited with 34 saves, slammed the door in the final five-plus minutes to protect the lead. Yellowjackets' goalie Tom Pink was credited with 23 saves. Pointers 4, St. Scholastica 3 Boehm scored the game winner just 32 seconds into overtime with Salineko and Zenon Kochan getting assists on the play. A junior forward from Eau Claire (North), Boehm was named national offensive player of the week by U.S. College Hockey Online after scoring game-winning goals in both weekend outings. He was also named NCHA and WIAC player of the week. It marked the first time this season a Pointer has earned the national award. The Pointers opened a 3-1 lead midway through the second period but the Saints fought back with a pair of goals. Maxson scored twice for the Pointers, at 3:46 of the opening period and 9:28 of the second stanza. The other UW-SP goal was credited to Nathan Shasby at 3:46 of the first period. Gould had 24 saves in net for the Pointers while Saints' goalie Kaleb Christenson was credited with 32 saves. Men's Basketball Wednesday was a red-letter day for the Pointers who not only routed UW-Oshkosh, 76-54, before 1,311 fans at Quandt Fieldhouse but also solidified their grip on first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-SP improved to 11-2 in the WIAC and 16-4 on the season while the Titans, who also lost in the earlier meeting to the Pointers, dropped to respective marks of 5-8 and 12-9. In another key match-up between league contenders last night, UW-Platteville (9-3, 16-4) rallied from a seven-point second half deficit to edge UW-Eau Claire (9-3, 17-3), 55-51. Both teams now trail the Pointers, who have three league games left, by 1 1/2 games. The Pointers, who dropped five spots to 15th place in the NCAA Division 3 national poll going into this week's games, will conclude their regular season home schedule on Saturday by hosting defending national champion Platteville at 7 p.m. in Quandt Fieldhouse. UW-SP upset the Pioneers and ended Platteville's 96-game home winning streak in an earlier meeting. The annual UW-SP Alumni Game will precede the main event at 5 p.m. A single admission is good for both games. Pointers 76, UW-Oshkosh 54 Already leading at halftime, 41-28, the Pointers went on a 24-9 run in the first 11 minutes of the second half to take a 65-37 advantage with 9:04 remaining. The margin grew to as high as 29 points (71-42) with 6:41 left when coach Jack Bennett went deep into his bench. The Titans' leading scorer, 6-5 senior Brad Clark, who ranked third in the WIAC with a 19-point average, picked up four fouls in the first half and fouled out with less than three minutes elapsed in the second half. He failed to score from the field. The Pointers out-played the Titans in just about every aspect of the game. UW-SP shot a torrid 52 percent from the field (24 of 46), made 5 of 13 attempts from 3-point land and sank 23 of 29 free throws for 79 percent. UW-O, conversely, shot 30.6 percent overall (15 of 49), made just 4 of 18 trey attempts and converted 20 of 30 free throws. Each team had 33 rebounds but the Pointers led in assists, 13-4. Brant Bailey, who came into action ranked fourth nationally with a 24.4 average, led UW-SP with 23 points in 27 minutes. The 6-7 senior hit on 8 of 11 shots from the field and 7 of 8 free throws. Also in double figures were junior guard Jay Bennett, who buried 3 of 4 treys, with 11 points and 6-5 senior Gabe Frank with 10. Justin Kamps led Oshkosh with 18 points and Scott Sowinski added 10. Pointers 76, UW-La Crosse 73 Bailey poured in 39 points for the second time this season against the Eagles to lead a second half rally in a game that wasn't decided until the closing seconds. La Crosse, which held a 36-31 halftime lead, maintained slim leads most of the second half, thanks mainly to uncanny long-range shooting. The Eagles sank 10 of 25 attempts from 3-point range and also gained a 35-30 rebounding advantage. Leading 68-65 with 2:47 left, the Pointers sank four straight free throws, all by Bailey, without the clock ticking. The Eagles were called for an intentional foul and then a bench technical foul when UW-L coach Charlie Gross vehemently protested the first call. Despite the seven-point deficit, the Eagles closed the gap to 74-73 with 49 seconds left on a pair of 3-point bombs by senior guard Paul Manchester. The Pointers, who sank nine straight free throws in the final 4:09, regained some breathing room when Frank buried four straight free throws, the first two at 2:10 and the final two with 13 seconds left. UW-SP then deployed into a 1-3-1 zone defense and Manchester's desperation 3-point heave under heavy defensive pressure was well off the mark as the clock ran out. Bailey, tying the school record he set earlier this season (a mark he shares with Mike Hughes), had a monster night. He sank 14 of 15 shots from the field and made 11 of 15 free throws. In addition, he came down with 13 rebounds, giving him a double-double for the fourth time this season. Women's Basketball It wasn't a blowout like the first meeting but the Pointers went down to their sixth defeat in their last seven games at UW-Oshkosh Wednesday night, 71-55. The Pointers (4-9, 9-11), trailed by just 30-24 at halftime, then saw the Titans (11-2, 17-4) opened the second half with a 16-4 run to take a 44-28 lead with 13:38 to play. UW-O went on to build leads as high at 26 points (62-36) with 5:58 remaining. Although UW-SP shot a respectable .462 from the field, UW-O had 27 more attempts (66-39), due mainly to the fact that the Pointers turned the ball over 21 times. Leading the Pointers, who were 17 of 22 at the line, were Carry Boehning with 14 points and Jess Ott and Amie Schultz with 13 each. Amanda Dickerson led the Titans with 19 points and nine boards. Former Pacelli High standout Kelly McNiff scored only two points in 21 minutes but handed out a game-high 11 assists. Melissa Schweitzer, a freshman from Amherst, contributed eight points, four rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes for Oshkosh. UW-La Crosse 60, Pointers 55 The Eagles had two second half runs to turn back the Pointers in Berg Gym last Saturday. La Crosse scored the first nine points of the second half for a 38-27 lead. After UW-SP closed to 45-44 with 8:36 left, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run and the Pointers could not recover. UW-SP shot just 37 percent from the field but lost the game at the foul line where UW-L converted 20 of 26 compared to the Pointers' 12 of 17. Schultz led UW-SP with 14 points while adding 11 each were Ott and Boehning. Schultz also handed out five assists while Boehning had seven rebounds. The Pointers return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Platteville. Swimming Both meets were decided by identical 164-79 scores as the Pointer men and women dunked UW-La Crosse in dual meet action at the Multi-Activities Center pool last Friday. The results were much the same on Saturday as the Pointer men routed UW-River Falls, 59-14, and the women also prevailed over the Falcons, 54-32. Against La Crosse, the UW-SP squads combined to win 21 of 27 events, including two each by Mary Agazzi, Kevin Engholdt and Randy Boelk. Agazzi won the 50 freestyle in :25.27 and the 100 free in :54.91. Engholdt won both of his diving specialties, the 1-meter with 276.25 points and the 3-meter with a 297.60 total. His efforts earned the Waukesha sophomore WIAC diver of the week honors. Agazzi, a senior from Kenosha who also anchored the winning 400 free relay team, also earned the league award. Boelk's times were almost identical as he sprinted to victory in the 200 medley (1:58.82) and 200 butterfly (1:58.74). Other winners for the UW-SP women were Mollie Starr in the 100 free, Becca Uphoff in the 200 free, Darcy Miller in the 200 medley, Mary Thone in the 200 butterfly, Deb Salzer in the 500 free and Christine Sammons in the 200 breaststroke. Relay wins came in the 400 medley and 400 freestyle. Other winners on the men's side included Nick Hansen in the 50 free, Anthony Harris in the 100 free, Jeremy Francioli in the 200 backstroke and Aaron Heiss in the 200 breast. The Pointers also won two relays, the 400 medley and 400 freestyle. At River Falls, firsts for the Pointer men went to Tim Benjamin in the 200 free, Wyatt Jansen in the 400 medley, Eric Sands in the 50 free, Thad Guenther in the 100 fly and 500 free, Francioli in the 100 free and the 200 medley relay team. Posting firsts for the UW-SP women were Heidi Hoffman in the 1,000 free, Salzer in the 100 free and 200 free, Uphoff in the 50 free and 100 back, Starr in the 400 medley, Thone in the 100 fly, Melanie Luke in the 500 free and the 200 medley relay team. The Pointer teams will travel to NCAA Division 1 UW-Green Bay for a 1 p.m. outing on Saturday. Indoor Track and Field The UW-SP men earned championship honors in the eight-team Pointer Invitational while the women finished a close runner-up in a 10-team field. The Pointer men scored 186.50 points while UW-Platteville was a distant second with 116.50. Illinois Wesleyan was third with 89. Oshkosh edged the Pointer women for top honors, 216-178.50. Platteville was third with 76.50. Shawn Hau was a double winner for the UW-SP men, capturing the 55-meter dash in :06.64 and the 200 dash in :23.12. Other winners included Dan Schwamberger in the 5,000 (NCAA qualifying time of 14:43.14), Mike Mead in the high jump (6-8), Alan Tepp in the triple jump (42-11) and the 4x400 relay team (3:21.17). Schwamberger, a senior from North Mankato, Minn., was named WIAC men's track athlete of the week. Jen Hau was a double winner for the Pointer women, taking the 55 high hurdles in :09.09 and the pole vault with a leap of 8-6.25. Other winners were Leah Juno in the 800 (provisional qualifying 2:17.04), Becky Lebak in the 3,000 (10:33.92), Jody Butkowski in the triple jump (35-2) and Megan Lundahl in the shot put (36-4.75). Wrestling It came down to the last match here last Friday as UW-Whitewater (6-3) edged the Pointers (1-6), 16-15. The Warhawks' Phil Klemm beat Mitch Gehring, 5-1, in the heavyweight match to clinch the win. Each team won five matches, all of which were decided by decision. UW-SP winners were Darren Dummer (125 pounds), Nathan Preslaski (157), Bob Weix (165), Wes Kapping (174) and Joe Bavlnka (184).