UW-Stevens Point defeated UW-Whitewater 63-57 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Saturday night at Kachel Gym in Whitewater, Wisconsin.  The Pointers, 23-4, earn the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament, which begins with regional play March 5.  UW-Whitewater, 22-5 and the WIAC regular season champion, will have to await word about a possible at-large berth, which will be announced Monday noon.

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A game couldn't start much slower.  That isn't to infer bad, just slow.  The first points of the game came on a three pointer by Whitewater's Dupree Fletcher (Milwaukee/Rufus King) with 14:21 on the clock.  Point held a five point lead 12-7, but neither team managed more than a three point margin the rest of the half.  The Pointers closed the half with a 6-0 run to lead 24-21 at intermission.

UW-SP shot 37% from the field in the first half, Whitewater 30%, the second lowest percentage of the season for the Warhawks.

The Pointers came out of the locker room and continued the run they left off with, adding five more points to go up 29-21.  The lead varied from six to Point's largest margin at 44-32 at 9:52.  Whitewater chipped away at the lead, with Fletcher's three pointer with 1:01 left cutting the Point lead to 60-57.  The Pointers missed a jumper on their next trip, but senior guard Matt Moses tipped in the rebound with 0:22 left.  That may have been the back breaker, as Whitewater's next attempt was blocked.  That left just 0:16 left, and Whitewater had to foul junior forward Jared Jenkins, who made one of two free throws for the final scoring.  Whitewater had three desperation attempts from three point range as the clock ran out.

Whitewater shot just 34% from the floor, while Point was at 40%.  Whitewater also commited 18 turnovers to eight for UW-SP.  

Fletcher led both teams with 25 points, including 8-8 from the line.  He was the only Warhawk in double figures.  Sophomore forward Alex Edmunds (Cedarburg/) had a game high 11 rebounds, and senior guard Phil Negri (Minocqua/Lakeland) led UW-W with five assists.

The Pointers distributed their scoring among four players in double figures.  Moses led them with 16 points, with freshman guard Louis Hurd adding 12, and freshman guard Jerrel Harris and junior forward Scott Hoelzel ten apiece.  Moses led UW-SP with seven rebounds.  Harris led his team with three steals and Ross Forman had three assists.

This was the third meeting of the season for the teams.  UW-W defeated UW-SP 67-60 in overtime December 10 in Whitewater, and overcame an eighteen point deficit to win 61-58 January 27 in Stevens Point.

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W coach