Box Score WHITEWATER, Wis. - Seven is better than one, at least it was Wednesday night.  UW-Whitewater, ranked seventh in the D3hoops.com poll, defeated number one UW-Stevens Point 81-76 in overtime in Kachel Gym Wednesday night.  It is the first loss of the season for the Pointers, now 20-1 overall and 11-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  UW-Whitewater, 18-3 on the season and 9-3 in league play, held on to second place.

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Jenny DuPuis)
Photo Gallery (courtesy of Alex Saager)

Junior guard Quardell Young (Kenosha/Bradford) knifed through the Pointers with thirteen seconds left in regulation to tie the game, but missed the free throw to knot the game 69-69.  The game went into OT as the Pointers could not get off a quality shot before the horn.  Junior forward K.J. Evans' two free throws with one minute left in the extra period gave UW-W a 77-76 lead, then Evans added two more free throws to put UW-W up by three, 79-76 with twenty seconds left.  The Pointers had two field goal attempts in the final seconds before senior guard Alex Merg (Greendale/Greendale) put in the final points from the free throw line.

Whitewater was in the driver's seat in the first half, building a 16 point advantage, 35-19, with 2:30 on the clock.  UW-W led 39-27 at intermission as Young went the length of the court to hit a layin at the buzzer.  The Warhawks shot 65% from the floor in the first twenty minutes, Point 55%.  Warhawk senior guard Eric Bryson (Elkhorn/Elkhorn) led both teams with 14 points, going 6-7, in the half.

Point, trailing by 12 early in the second half, exploded after a technical foul on the Warhawks, running thirteen consecutive points to tie the game at 40-40 at 17:02.  Young answered with back-to-back three pointers, but UW-SP scored the next seven for a 47-46 with 13:38 remaining.  There were six lead changes over the next six minutes, and then the Pointers maintained a lead until Young's layup tied the game. 

Senior guard Tyler Tillema, the leading scorer in the WIAC, opened overtime with a three-pointer.  At 3:32 Evans connected from beyond the arc to tie the game 74-74, and on the following UW-SP possession Evans drew an offensive foul to give UW-W the ball back.  Coming back down the court Evans was fouled, hit one of two free throws for a 75-74 lead at 2:36.  Junior guard Joe Ritchay put the Pointers back in front with a jumper at 2:15.  Neither team scored on its next possession, and then UW-W won the game at the foul line.

Point had a 32-23 rebound edge, offset some by Whitewater winning the turnover battle, committing four to UW-SP's eleven.  All the shooting statistics (field goals, threes, free throws) were within five percentage points of each other. 

Young led UW-W with 19 points, also dishing out a game high four assists and no turnovers for the Warhawk point guard.  Young went 8-13 from the field, including 3-3 from beyond the arc.  Bryson wound up with 17, senior center Reggie Hearn (Milwaukee/Marshall) added 16, and Evans contributed 15, including 8-10 from the line, and a team high six rebounds.  Tillema tied Young for game honors with 19 points.  Ritchay chipped in with 18, hitting 6-8 from the floor and 3-4 from three point range.  Sophomore guard Stephen Pelkofer scored 11 and senior guard Trevor Haas scored 10.  Senior center Clayton Heuer took game rebounding honors with nine.

UW-Whitewater will travel to UW-Superior Saturday.  The next home game for the Warhawks will be Wednesday, February 12 at 7:00 versus UW-La Crosse.


TF/ak