Highs, lows highlight week for first-place Pointer basketball By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette From an exhilarating victory to a disappointing loss. After defeating nationally ranked UW-Eau Claire, 72-67, here on Saturday night, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team could not get past dangerous UW-Superior four nights later, falling to the Yellowjackets, 61-60, before 1,462 fans at Quandt Fieldhouse on Wednesday. The upset loss, however, did not cost UW-SP possession of first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Pointers, ranked No. 2 in the West Region and No. 10 in the NCAA Division 2 national poll going into action, dropped to 9-2 in league play and 14-4 overall. The loss also snapped a six-game winning streak. The Pointers still own a half-game lead over Eau Claire (8-2, 16-2) in the conference race. The Blugolds bounced back from Saturday's loss by routing UW-La Crosse Wednesday. UW-SP also got an assist from River Falls (6-5, 12-7) which upset Platteville (7-3, 14-4). The Pointers travel to La Crosse (3-8, 8-11) on Saturday (WIZD, 99.9-FM) on Saturday before returning home next Wednesday to take on Oshkosh. Superior 6l, Pointers 60 A lay-in basket with 13 seconds remaining by Justin Johnson provided the margin of victory for the Jackets, but the Pointers had two open looks at the basket in the time that remained, only to see both shots bounce off the rim. UW-SP, which trailed most of the way, fought back to take a 59-56 lead with 1:51 remaining. Gabe Frank gave the Pointers their final lead by sinking one of two free throws with 43 seconds to play. Cold shooting and poor rebounding were the keys to the surprising defeat. The Pointers, although hitting 5 of 10 3-point attempts, shot just 40.7 percent overall on 22 of 54. The situation was similar at the free throw line where UW-SP converted just 11 of 18, including three of seven in the final six minutes. Superior, which also upset Platteville earlier this season, won the rebound battle by a 40-24 margin. The Jackets (5-6, 11-7) were led by Thomas who scored 20 points and came down with 12 rebounds. Brandon Vesel, a stocky 6-1 guard who repeatedly burned the Pointers inside, added 16 points. Brant Bailey led UW-SP, which turned the ball over just six times compared to 17 by UW-S, with 18 points and seven rebounds. Joe Zuiker had 11 points and six boards and 6-8 freshman Josh Iserloth 10 points and five rebounds. Pointers 72, UW-Eau Claire 67 Deadly accuracy at the free throw line in the second half, especially in the closing minutes when the game was on the line, enabled the Pointers to atone for an earlier overtime loss at Eau Claire. With a packed house estimated at more than 3,000 fans in attendance, the Pointers sank 20 of 21 second half free throw attempts to hold off the Blugolds who had forged a 50-50 deadlock with 8:28 remaining. Bailey, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, sank two free throws each at 8:08 and 7:34 to give UW-SP a lead it would not relinquish. Leading 65-50 with 1:32 left, the Pointers put the game away by converting seven of eight charity attempts, including six in a row by Frank. All told, the Pointers were 23 of 29 at the stripe for 79 percent, compared to 11 of 19 by the Blugolds for 57.9 percent. UW-SP also out-shot UW-EC, both from the field, .429 (21 of 49) to .414 (24 of 58) and from beyond the arc, .467 (7 of 15) to .381 (8 of 21). The Blugolds managed a 36-32 rebounding advantage, although UW-SP owned the boards in the decisive second half, 18-12. Frank contributed 18 points while Brent Larson added 11 points and five assists. Zuiker, thanks to a strong second half, chipped in seven points and 10 rebounds while Bailey had seven boards. Eau Claire's offense was pretty much confined to two players. Sherm Carstenson, a 6-5 junior transfer from NCAA Division I UW-Green Bay, tallied 26 points while Jon Wallenfelsz, a 6-9 senior post player who prepped at Schofield D.C. Everest, scored 22 points and came down with 11 rebounds. Hockey A pair of key road victories, highlighted by a 3-2 win over contender UW-Superior on Saturday night, elevated the Pointers back into first place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings. The Pointers, who also whipped College of St. Scholastica, 4-1, at Duluth, Minn. on Friday, are ranked No. 5 in this week's NCAA-3 national poll compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online. St. Norbert College (15-3-1) vaulted into the No. 1 spot, followed by Norwich, Vt. (13-2-1), Plattsburgh, N.Y. (14-3-0) and St. Thomas, Minn. (13-2-2). UW-SP, which has won four straight games, leads the NCHA with a 7-1 record. The Pointers have handed St. Norbert two of their three losses and stand 4-3 against five of the top nine ranked teams in this week's poll. Ryan Maxson's goal at the 3:42 mark of the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and earned UW-SP the win at Superior. The Pointers opened a 2-1 lead after the first period on goals by Kenny Bowers at 3:33 and Mikhail Salienko at 13:03. The Yellowjackets, however, tied the score on a second period goal at 1:15 by Jeff Glowa. UW-SP goalie Bob Gould stopped 23 of the 25 shots launched by Superior while Yellowjackets' goalie Tom Pink had 26 saves. After spotting College of St. Scholastica a 1-0 lead, the Pointers took charge, scoring three goals in the opening period and a final tally in the third stanza. Scoring first period goals for UW-SP were Salienko at 9:17, Randy Enders at 10:16 and Joel Marshall at 14:58. Derek Toninato had the final goal at 19:49 of the third period. The Pointers fired an incredible 55 shots at CSS goalie Kaleg Christenson while Gould was credited with 13 stops in the UW-SP net. Gould, a sophomore from Eagle River, was named WIAC hockey player of the week, an honor he earned for the second time this season. He had a total of 36 saves in the two weekend wins while allowing just three goals. The Pointers will host both teams this weekend at Willett Arena, taking on Superior on Friday and St. Scholastica on Saturday. Both games will face off at 7:30 p.m. Women's Basketball The Pointers snapped a four-game losing streak by rallying in the second half Wednesday night to post a 72-66 win at UW-Superior. UW-SP, which improved to 4-7 in the WIAC and 9-9 overall, return home to take on UW-La Crosse on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Berg Gym. After trailing at halftime, 39-35, the Pointers fought back to gain leads of as much as 11 points in the second half. Two free throws by Carry Boehning gave UW-SP a 65-54 lead with 4:29 left and the Jackets never got closer than three points the rest of the way. The Pointers shot a banner 49 percent for the game on 24 of 49 and also sizzled at the foul line, converting 21 of 23 for 91 percent. Boehning, who poured in 17 second half points, led UW-SP with 27. The 6-0 Auburndale sophomore, 10 of 14 from the field and 7 for 7 at the line, also grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore Amie Schultz chipped in 10 points. Superior (2-7, 6-10) was led by Terri Olsen with 19 points and Sara Wohlgemuth with 18. The Jackets shot just 39 percent from the field and made 12 of 17 free throws but sank eight of 22 trey attempts. UW-Eau Claire 77, Pointers 61 The Pointers gave the unbeaten (8-0 WIAC, 16-0 overall) Blugolds, who are ranked No. 2 nationally in the Columbus Multimedia poll, all they could handle for a half, trailing just 33-29 at the intermission. Baskets inside by Boehning and Jessica Granger pulled UW-SP into a 33-33 tie in the opening minute of the second half but the Blugolds then went on an 11-0 run and the Pointers never got closer than eight points the rest of the way. It was a school record 16th straight win for Eau Claire which was led by All-America candidate Jayme Anderson who scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Jessie Brantner who added 19 points. Ott (19) and Boehning (18) combined to score 37 points for UW-SP which hit on 22 of 57 floor attempts. Ott was named Pointer player of the week after combining for 37 points in losses to Whitewater and Eau Claire. She was 7-of-19 from 3-point range, 6-of-6 at the line and had four assists and six rebounds. Swimming The UW-SP men placed second while the women came in third at the annual "Get to the Point" Invitational last weekend at the Multi-Activities Center. NCAA Division 2 University of South Dakota edged the Pointer men in a two-team battle for top honors, 938 points to 806. St. Olaf (Minn.) was third with 468, while St. Cloud (Minn.) 427 and UW-La Crosse 419 were fourth and fifth, respectively. A three-team race developed on the women's side with Wheaton (832) outlasting St. Cloud State (761) and the host Pointers (674). Rounding out the top five were St. Olaf (457) and La Crosse (372). Junior standout Randy Boelk led the UW-SP men with three individual first place finishes. Boelk captured the 200 individual medley in 1:57.61, the 100 backstroke in :51.46 and the 200 back in 1:51.76. The Pointers also won five relay events-the 800 freestyle in 7:11.49, the 200 free in 1:28.44, the 400 medley in 3:33.83, the 200 medley in 1:36.92 and the 400 free in 3:14.42. The Pointers' Anthony Harris won the 100 butterfly in :53.05. The only first place finish for the Pointer women was turned in by Becca Uphoff who won the 500 freestyle in 5:14.1. Boelk, a junior from Embarrass, Minn. was named WIAC swimmer of the weed for the fourth time in seven weeks after setting pool records in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events and swimming legs on four of the five winning Pointer relay teams. He also easily eclipsed NCAA qualifying standards in the two backstroke events. Sophomore Kevin Engholdt of Waukesha was named Pointer diver of the week after qualifying for the NCAA in both the one-meter and three-meter events. He was fifth in the three-meter with 486.05 points and sixth in the one-meter with 438.10 points. Uphoff, a senior from Madison, also earned WIAC honors for the second time. In addition to her individual finishes, she was a member of four high-finishing relay teams. The Pointer teams will host UW-La Crosse on Friday at 6 p.m. at the MAC. Track The UW-SP men won nine of 16 events to capture top honors in the Pointer Triangular at the MAC last Saturday with 98 points. Carthage College of Kenosha was second with 40.5 while the UW-SP Alumni came in third with 37. Carthage outscored the Pointers to win the women's title, 103.25 to 75.75. The Alumni team was third with 12. Eight different athletes won individual titles for the Pointer men. Included were Shawn Hau in the 55-meter dash, Eric Miller in the 200 dash, Craig Gunderson in the 400 dash, Dan Schwamberger in the l,500, Tom Rutkowski in the pole vault, Brian Buege in the triple jump, Joel Schult in the shot put and Josh Klein in the weight throw. The other first went to the 4x400 relay team. The Pointer women won four events, by Jody Butkowski in the 200 dash, Leah Juno in the 1,500, Becky Lebak in the 5,000 and Jen Hau in the pole vault. Athlete of the week awards went to Gunderson, a Neenah sophomore who ran a blistering :49.9 in the 400, sixth best on the school's all-time list; Juno, a Brillion senior who clocked 4:45.20 in the 1,500 meters and turned in a 60-second leg on the second place 4x400 relay team; and Hau, a junior from Glenbeulah who cleared a personal best 8-6 in the pole vault while adding a second in the 55 hurdles in :09.00. The Pointers will host the first of two straight invitationals on Saturday at 11 a.m. Wrestling Lawrence 24, Pointers 15 Pins in the first two matches gave the Vikings early momentum and Lawrence went on to win four other matches by decision last Friday in Quandt Fieldhouse. The loss dropped UW-SP to 1-5 in dual meets while Lawrence improved to 7-7. The Pointers will host UW-Whitewater on Friday at 7 p.m. in Quandt. The Pointers won only three matches against Lawrence. Nathan Preslaski at 157 pounds beat Ross Hubbard, 6-0, Bob Weix at 165 pinned Nike Nickel in 6:43 and Brady Holtz at 133 pinned T.J. Ow in 1:21. There was a double forfeit at 125 pounds.