Quartet of third period goals doom Pointer hockey By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette The new year began on thin ice for the UW-Stevens Point hockey team here on Tuesday night. In a showdown between highly ranked powers, St. Thomas University of St. Paul, Minn. upended the Pointers, 8-5, before a turnout of 1,014 fans at Willett Arena. The Tommies, ranked No. 3 in this week's U.S. College Hockey Online poll, erased a one-goal deficit by outscoring UW-SP in the third period, 4-0. The victory improved the Minnesota school to 10-0-2 while the Pointers, who were ranked No. 2 this week, dropped to 10-4. The Pointers, showing the rust from being idle since Dec. 11, will try to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to Winona, Minn. for a 7:05 p.m. clash against St. Mary's College. The game can be heard on Radio Station WWSP, 90-FM. Tony Lawrence scored a pair of short-handed goals early in the third period to give the Tommies momentum. UW-SP had taken a 5-4 lead with 3:31 left in the second period on a power play goal by D.J. Drayna. Lawrence's goals came following errant Pointer passes. His first came on a four-on-three situation at the 1:31 mark and the second on a five-on-four match-up at the 5:30 mark, giving the Tommies a 6-5 lead. St. Thomas increased its lead just 1:11 later when Brian Bolf scored a four-on-four goal. The final goal came at 13:21 by Ryan Francis. UW-SP was led by junior forward Matt Interbartolo who posted the second hat trick of his career by scoring three of the Pointers' first four goals. Special team goals highlighted the action. The Pointers scored on four of their first six power play opportunities and finished the night four-for-nine in those situations. The Tommies, on the other hand, were two-for-six on the power play. Just four of the game's 13 goals came with both teams at full strength. The other Pointer goal was scored by Nathan Shasby at 16:29 of the second period. Pointer goalie Bob Gould stopped 34 of the 42 shots launched by St. Thomas. Tommies' goalie Brad Moore stopped 26 of the 31 shots fired at him by the Pointers. There were 23 penalties in the contest. The Tommies were assessed 13 for a total of 26 minutes while the Pointers had 10 for 20 minutes. Men's Basketball Overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit, the Pointers used a 58-point second half surge to nail down a huge road win, 85-78, over UW-Oshkosh at the Kolf Sports Center on Wednesday night. Brant Bailey, despite sitting out at times with foul problems, poured in 34 points to lead UW-SP which improved to 4-1 in the WIAC and 9-3 overall. UW-O, expected to contend for the WIAC title, dropped to 1-4 in league play and 7-5 overall. The Pointers face another major road challenge at defending national champion UW-Platteville Saturday at 7 p.m. The Pioneers edged UW-Eau Claire, 62-60, in a battle of WIAC unbeatens at Zorn Arena Wednesday. The game can be heard on Radio Station WIZD, 99.9-FM. The Pointers' second half comeback was fueled by torrid 76 percent shooting (16 of 21). Bailey, who fouled out with 3:32 remaining, scored 23 of his total during the final 20 minutes. The 6-7 senior was 11 of 19 from the field and 12 of 13 at the foul line. Also scoring in double figures for UW-SP were Gabe Frank with 14 points, 6-9 freshman Josh Iserloth with 12 and junior lead guard Brent Larson with 10. Iserloth also had seven rebounds while Bailey came down with five. Larson handed out five assists. The Pointers shot 54 percent overall (27 of 50), including 5 of 11 from beyond the arc and sank 26 of 31 free throws, including three of four by Larson and one of two by Travis Kornowski in the final 33 seconds after the Titans had closed to 81-78. UW-O shot 49 percent from the floor, including 6 of 15 on trey attempts, sank 18 of 23 free throws and managed a 30-25 rebounding edge. All-WIAC performer Brad Clark, who fouled out with 25 seconds left, led the Titans with 27 points and five rebounds. He was 12 of 14 at the foul line. The Pointers, who turned the ball over just 10 times, pressured UW-O into 19 turnovers. Edgewood 69, Pointers 64 The defeat on Dec. 29 was the Pointers' first in the Sentry Holiday Classic since a loss in 1979 to NCAA Division 2 Northern Michigan University. UW-SP had since won 16 consecutive games in the holiday extravaganza. The contest was close throughout with neither team able to take any kind of control. Edgewood managed to gain a small lead going into the stretch run, then put the game away by scoring its final 12 points in the last five minutes at the free throw line. The Pointers were plagued by 39 percent shooting from the field, 10 missed free throws and an abnormally high 19 turnovers. A 9-for-21 performance from 3-point range and a 36-31 rebounding edge were not enough to compensate. The Eagles, who had fallen to UW-SP earlier in the season at Madison, pulled off the upset by shooting 40 percent from the field, connecting on 5 of 14 trey attempts and converting 22 of 29 free throws for a banner 75.9 percent. Bailey reached a milestone in the first half when he scored his 1,000th career point, becoming only the 22nd player in school history to reach that total. He finished the game with 21 points and five rebounds. Larson contributed 17 points, hitting 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc, four assists and four rebounds. Senior swing-man Ryan Lanphear was a big thorn in the Pointers' side, pouring in 25 points while nailing all 10 of his free throw tries, to lead Edgewood. Women's basketball The Pointers' six-game winning streak came to a sudden halt here on Wednesday night when perennial Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title contender UW-Oshkosh handed UW-SP a 52-28 defeat. The win improved the Titans to 5-0 in the WIAC and 10-2 overall while the Pointers dropped to respective marks of 2-3 and 7-5. UW-SP hosts Platteville on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Berg Gym. Although playing respectably on offense, the Pointers struggled badly on offense, turning the ball over 30 times and connecting on just 8 of 34 shots for an icy 23.5 percent. The 28-point scoring total was an all-time low. Oshkosh shot just 37.5 percent but sank 6 of 8 shots from 3-point range, converted 10 of 13 free throw chances and turned the ball over just 17 times. UW-SP, which managed a 32-27 rebounding edge, trailed 29-16 at halftime and never made a serious run after turning the ball over on its first five second half possessions. The Pointers had just one field goal in the first 13 minutes after the intermission. Jess Ott led UW-SP with eight points while Jessica Granger and Carry Boehning added six each. Boehning also grabbed eight rebounds while Amie Schultz had seven. Sara Hegge, who drained three of four 3-point shots, had 11 points and Amanda Dickerson 10 points and seven boards to lead the Titans. Senior Kelly McNiff, a former Pacelli High standout, had eight points, three rebounds and an assist in 17 minutes while freshman Melissa Schweitzer, who helped lead Amherst to a WIAA state championship last March, chipped in three points, two assists and two rebounds in nine minutes. Pointers 69, Clark University 66 One day after shocking the No. 2 ranked team in NCAA Division 3, John Hopkins (Md.) University, 62-44, the Pointers extended their winning streak to six by toppling Clark (Mass.) University, 69-66, in the Land of Magic Classic at Daytona Beach, Fla. on Dec. 28. Ott finished the tourney with 35 points by tossing in 20 against Clark. Sophomore teammate Carry Boehning also finished with 35 by contributing 18. The two also combined to pull down 14 rebounds. Boehning's efforts earned her the WIAC Player of the Week award for the second week in a row. She finished the two-day tourney with 23 rebounds while hitting on 13 of 27 shots. Granger also made her presence felt with nine points, six boards and five assists. The Pointers shot 41 percent from the floor with Ott draining 5 of 13 shots from 3-point land but struggled at the line, converting just 13 of 25. Wrestling Loras 23, Pointers 20 The Pointers fell to 0-4 in dual meets with the close home defeat at the hands of Loras College of Dubuque, Iowa on Wednesday. It came down to the heavyweight match where the Duhawks' Don LeRoux edged Mitch Gehring, 8-7, snapping a 20-20 tie. Each team won five matches. Pointer winners were Jared Esala at 125 pounds by forfeit, Brady Holtz at 133 on a 7-4 decision, Nathan Preslaski at 157 on a 5-1 decision, Bob Weix at 165 on a 13-2 decision and Wes Kapping at 184 on a 16-6 decision. A key to the outcome was the fact that Loras recorded pins at 149 and 174. The Pointers will host another Iowa school, Wartburg College, on Friday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m.