The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s
basketball team will close out the 2016-17 season when it hosts UW-La Crosse (13-11,
5-8) at 7 p.m. at Bennett Court at
Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Feb. 18.

The Pointers went on the road Saturday, Feb. 11, and won 76-64
at UW-Stout (13-11, 4-9), and then won 61-56 at home over UW-Platteville (8-16,
1-12) to improve to 13-10 overall and 7-6 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (WIAC) this season.

With UWSP’s self-imposed postseason ban this year due to
alleged NCAA rules violations, the regular-season finale against La Crosse will be its last
game this season, and the Pointers honor their five-member senior class for
Senior Night.

“We can give ourselves the opportunity to finish 5-2 in the second half (of the
WIAC) and potentially could win five out of our last six games,” said UWSP
men’s basketball interim head coach Kent Dernbach. “That’s a tall task, but
that’s the opportunity that we have this week, and something that our guys look
forward to taking advantage of, because we know come Saturday at 9 p.m., our seniors are going to have
played in their last basketball game.

“And what we talk about down the stretch is, all of us have
a passion for the game, and these guys have time and time again been tested and
shown that they know how to fight and are willing to fight through adversity,”
he said. “We by far have the No. 1 overall strength of schedule in the country,
because of the nonconference, but then the adversity that they had to fight
through in early January (with the postseason ban announcement) and how they
bounced back right away, and then the tough stretch of playing six ranked teams
in eight games and how we fought through that and got wins and continued to not
waver.”

To read the rest of the story, pick up a copy of the Portage
County Gazette at one of the many newsstands in the area, including gas
stations and grocery stores. Or subscribe at paymentwizard.com/OrderForm.aspx?FormID=1406
to have weekly copies delivered by mail.

A website login function to view full stories online will be
coming soon. Any current or new subscriber will have access.

For more information or to subscribe over the phone, call
715-343-8045. Please note, to have access to the online version, you will need
to provide an email address.