Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

After losing three of its last four games, the 20th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s basketball team will look to rebound when it hosts UW-Eau Claire at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 26.

The then-ninth-ranked Pointers (12-5, 4-3) suffered back-to-back losses at home in games that went down to the final possession, as a late turnover closed out a 61-57 loss to UW-La Crosse (13-5, 6-1) Wednesday, Jan. 16, and UW-Platteville (11-7, 4-3) scored on a put-back dunk with two seconds left to beat UWSP 61-60 Saturday, Jan. 19.

“We’re really, really close to pulling out these games that we’re losing,” said UWSP senior forward Canon O’Heron. “If we can just eliminate those five-to-seven minute stretches where we don’t hit shots and we don’t get that many stops on defense, then we’re going to be right there and we’re going to be on the other end of a lot of these games.”

“First of all, I think everybody recognizes that we’ve played three very good teams, who all three of them were playing their best basketball coming into Quandt Gym,” said UWSP men’s basketball head coach Bob Semling. “And in each of those games, we just have had a stretch in the first half, whether it’s five, six, or seven possessions that have cost us that game.

“So the result is we’re in a place we’ve hardly ever been,” he said.

UWSP senior forward Canon O’Heron shot fakes UW-Platteville senior forward Clay Gerds before scoring on a reverse layup in the Pointers’ 61-60 loss to UW-Platteville at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 19. (John Kemmeter photo)

Following a 10-2 start to this season, the Pointers lost 78-68 at home to fourth-ranked Oshkosh (17-1, 7-0) Jan. 9 and won 68-53 at Eau Claire (10-8, 3-4) Jan.12, before they were home last Wednesday night to take on a La Crosse team guided by Almond native and former UWSP associate head coach Kent Dernbach.

UWSP got out to a 10-3 lead with 15:32 left in the first half, but didn’t make a shot from the field for the next 11:56, as La Crosse opened up a 32-18 lead with 2:15 to go in the half, before senior guard Nate Dodge hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Pointers within 34-26 at halftime.

Dodge knocked down another three-pointer early in the second half to extend a 15-2 run that got UWSP within 34-33 with 16:47 remaining, and the game remained tight the rest of the way, as La Crosse matched its biggest lead of the second half at 58-53 on a three-pointer from senior forward Ben Meinholz with 1:07 to play.

Junior guard Ethan Bublitz hit a jumper and Dodge scored on a layup to bring the Pointers within 58-57 with 32 seconds left, and Meinholz made one of two free throws with 11 seconds to play to give La Crosse a 59-57 advantage.

Bublitz missed a shot in the lane in the closing seconds, and after a UWSP offensive rebound, La Crosse came up with a steal and scored on a layup at the buzzer to win 61-57.

Dodge finished with 18 points and four rebounds; senior forward/center Brett Tauber had 11 points and six rebounds; O’Heron totaled 10 points, four rebounds and four assists; and Bublitz added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Pointers.

“La Crosse had won four straight games in the league, and they came in knowing that they only lost to us by two last year (66-64), and I think they used that for extra motivation,” said Semling. “They didn’t come in here to play not to lose; they came in here on a mission and trying to play to win.

“And they didn’t crack,” he said. “When we came back on our court and we got our fans in the game, then they responded back and they held us off and got the win.”

UWSP senior guard Drew Fredrickson gets hand checked as he goes past Platteville sophomore guard Quentin Shields (4) during the Pointers’ 61-60 loss to UW-Platteville at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 19. (John Kemmeter photo)

The Pointers were home again Saturday night to take on reigning WIAC Champion Platteville, in a battle of teams that each returned four starters from last year’s squads that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

UWSP made one shot from the field during a 13:07 span in the first half and fell behind Platteville 24-12 with 5:13 to go in the first half, before Bublitz hit a pair of three-pointers in the final four minutes to help the Pointers pull within 31-23 at halftime.

UWSP cut its deficit to 37-35 early in the second half and trailed 43-37 with 10:18 left, when the Pointers went an 11-2 run, which was capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Drew Fredrickson that gave the team a 48-45 lead with 7:38 to play.

The Pointers never trailed again until the closing seconds, as they were ahead 58-57 with 27 seconds left when Dodge came up with a steal, but Platteville senior forward and reigning WIAC Player of the Year Robert Duax poked the ball loose from behind and scored on a layup with 14.1 seconds to go to give Platteville a 59-58 lead.

UWSP junior guard Ethan Bublitz drives past UW-Platteville junior guard Carter Voelker on the way to the basket in the Pointers’ 61-60 loss to UW-Platteville at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 19. (John Kemmeter photo)

Bublitz answered with a basket in the lane to put UWSP ahead 60-59 with 7.7 seconds remaining, while Platteville sophomore point guard Quentin Shields drove the length of the floor and missed a runner in the lane, but Platteville senior forward Clay Gerds followed with a put-back dunk to give the team a 61-60 lead with 2.0 seconds to play.

“Shields got the ball and he went 94 feet in about four seconds,” said O’Heron. “We stepped over and tried to block the shot, and then Gerds was there to get the put back.

“So credit to them for making the play in that situation,” he said.

The Pointers turned the ball over at halfcourt before they could get a final shot off to drop their third consecutive game at home with a 61-60 loss, as Bublitz finished with 21 points and six rebounds, O’Heron scored 19 points, and Dodge had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

“The games were almost carbon copies,” said Semling. “We started slow, didn’t finish, and didn’t shoot well.

“These are all good teams, and we’re a good team, but we’re not going to allow excuses,” he said. “We’re going to keep our eye on being the best team in the month of February, down the stretch and into March, and we’re going to come out the other side a much stronger and a better team because of this.”

UWSP bounced back with a 72-61 win at UW-Stout (6-12, 0-7) Wednesday, Jan. 23, and will be home Saturday night to take on Eau Claire, which is led by 6-0 junior guard Cole Rabedeaux (16.9 points per game, 43.8 percent on three-pointers), 6-0 senior guard Ben Widdes (12.5 points, 3.2 assists) and 6-1 freshman forward Spencer Page (9.9 points).

“Eau Claire’s very talented on offense, and I think they really are the surprise of the league,” said Semling. “They had a one-point lead over there at halftime and forced us to be at our best to beat them in the second half.”

UWSP junior forward Blake Ehrke (20) drives to the basket during the Pointers’ 61-60 loss to UW-Platteville at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 19. (John Kemmeter photo)

The Pointers will follow with a road trip to play at La Crosse at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, as they look to fight their way back into the WIAC race, which Oshkosh (7-0) leads over La Crosse (6-1), Platteville (4-3), UWSP (4-3), Eau Claire (3-4), UW-Whitewater (3-4), UW-River Falls (1-6) and UW-Stout (0-7).

“Obviously the WIAC’s tough, but us eight seniors have been through way too much to let this affect us to the point where we don’t want to play any more, or we’re giving up on our hopes and dreams,” said Bublitz. “We’re chasing the 30th (Conference) Banner, and I think that’s very achievable.

“Especially in the WIAC, people lose all of the time that you don’t think are going to lose,” he said.

“You can’t win the WIAC in the first round, but you can lose it, you can put yourself in a position where you can’t be in a race for a banner in the final weeks of the season, and we know our backs are against the wall and we have to go win back some tiebreakers,” said Semling. “To get a No. 2 seed (in the WIAC Tournament), we have to win on the road at La Crosse, at Oshkosh, at Platteville, we know we have to win two or three of those games to put ourselves back in the mix.

“Last year the champion had two losses, and we had three losses and we were the No. 2 seed, so we know that we don’t have any margin for error, if we want a bye and we want homecourt,” he said. “And anything can happen, this is such a great league, and you’re assuming that everybody’s going to continue to be at their best.

“Oshkosh is hot, La Crosse is hot and so is Platteville right now, but all it takes is one injury or one guy gets in a slump or gets sick and it throws you off, and you lose a couple of games,” he said. “In one week in this league, you can lose two games, and you can go from being in a pretty good position, to now you’re fighting for your life.”