The 2004-05 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s basketball team celebrates after it won its second consecutive NCAA Division III National Championship with a 73-49 win over Rochester (N.Y.) 73-49 in Salem, Va., March 19, 2005. (Tom Charlesworth photo)

Portage County Gazette

This story is a reprint from the March 25, 2005, edition of The Portage County Gazette.

By Jim Strick

Special to The Gazette

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) capped off one of the most impressive post-season runs in NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament history with the largest margin of victory in a National Championship Game, as the Pointers rolled past Rochester 73-49 to become the third school in Division III history to win back-to-back titles.

The win was customary of the Pointers’ entire season that saw them win all but one of their 29 victories by six points or more. In fact, UW-SP’s five tournament victories came by an average of 21.0 points per game.

The Pointers matched last year’s school record for wins with a 29-3 record, and the win was also the 200th career victory in just nine seasons for head coach Jack Bennett. UWSP is the first repeat champion since UW-Platteville in 1998-99. North Park won three straight titles from 1978-80.

“It wasn’t as dramatic as last year, but it was just as sweet,” said Bennett, whose team used a last-second shot to win last year’s game 84-82 over Williams (Mass.). “This was a close game at halftime and we just played an outstanding second half.”

Both teams played solid defense in the first half and it was a pair of underclassmen who gave the Pointers a 28-25 halftime advantage. Sophomore Jon Krull had 13 points and five rebounds before halftime while finishing with season-high totals of 22 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Steve Hicklin hit a three-pointer in the final minute of the half that gave UWSP its three-point cushion. The Pointers held a momentary six-point lead, but the first half was tied at seven different times.

The second half was a different story, however, as the Pointers hit eight of their first nine shots to open up an early 10-point lead at 38-28 with 17:11 left. They cruised the rest of the way, hitting 64 percent of their shots in the second half and playing a stifling defense that held Rochester to just 28.6 percent after halftime and 32.6 percent for the game.

“They are a very, very good team and they exposed some of our weaknesses,” said Rochester coach Mike Neer. “They are well-coached, they don’t care who gets the credit and they get it done.”

Offensively, the story for the Pointers was senior Nick Bennett, who didn’t score in the first half while saddled with two fouls, but then came out on fire in the second half, making his first five shots and scoring 15 points in the first eight minutes of the half.

“He came out and had the half of his life,” Jack Bennett said of his son, who ended his career with 1,646 points and just three points shy of second place on the school’s all-time scoring list. “When we’re clicking on all cylinders we’re tough to defend.”

“I just set forth the goals I always set,” Nick Bennett said. “Get open looks, get the ball to open teammates and play good defense.”

Meanwhile, UWSP’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Jason Kalsow, concluded his career with 15 points and six rebounds, including a baseline dunk with 1:51 left for his final basket. The Pointers’ title was the eighth National Championship for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) since 1983.

“You can’t get complacent in the WIAC,” said Kalsow of the team’s drive to repeat as National Champions. “We stayed hungry and we never thought about it until we got back here to the Final Four. You just have to get your job done and win games.”

It was UWSP’s 11th straight win in the NCAA Tournament and the Pointers are now 16-3 all-time in the postseason.

Kalsow was named Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, while Nick Bennett and Krull were named to the All-Tournament Team.

“For this group and for Nick and I to go out like this is beyond anything I could have hoped for,” Jack Bennett said. “I still am shocked we’re back-to-back champs. These guys simply play their best when the pressure’s the greatest.”

National Semifinal Game

UWSP got a chance to defend its NCAA Division III men’s basketball championship after dismantling York (Pa.) 81-58 in the National Semifinals on Friday in Salem, Va. York, which finished the season 28-3, had lost its previous two games by three points and one point, respectively, and also had their school record 14-game winning streak snapped.

It was another outstanding all-around performance from the Pointers and senior forward Jason Kalsow as they drained 12 three-pointers and had 22 assists with just six turnovers.

Kalsow was a one-man show with 20 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks. The senior hit three three-pointers in an effort that came off a game in the Sectional Final that saw him score a season-low eight points.

“I struggled a little bit in the Sectional,” Kalsow said. “I know it’s the Final Four, but I’ve been taught since I was a little boy that your next game is the biggest.”

“If you put too much emphasis on Kalsow and (Nick) Bennett, the other guys will hurt you,” said York coach Jeff Gamber. “We didn’t do a good job with that and I give them credit.”

The Pointers were draining threes all night as six different players combined to finish 12-for-24 from behind the arc. York, meanwhile, was held to 44.2 percent shooting and a season-low point total after entering the game against the nation’s second-ranked defense averaging 80.9 points per game.

“They had tremendous ability and tremendous size,” Gamber said. “Their length at all positions made it difficult to play a good game. Their defense making it difficult for us was the key to the game.”

UWSP trailed 8-7 early in the game, but got two consecutive three-pointers from Kyle Grusczynski and another from Bennett to spark a 9-0 run and take control. After York closed to 20-14, the Pointers went on a 10-2 run for a 30-16 lead. UWSP had the lead as big as 19 points in the first half before York closed the first half with five straight points and a three-pointer from Kenny Fass at the horn to pull within 40-26 at the half.

Fass, who led York with 13 points, hit another three-pointer to open the second half and brought the Spartans within 11 points, but the Pointers got two straight layups from Eric Maus and a three-pointer from Kalsow to push the lead back to 47-29 three minutes into the second half.

York’s closest penetration the rest of the way was 15 points at 61-46 with 9:35 left, but Brian Bauer hit a three-pointer for the Pointers as they cruised to the finish.

UWSP shot 46.2 percent from the field, but owned a 39-27 rebounding advantage. In fact, the Pointers had 19 offensive rebounds on their 37 missed shots.

Bennett added 16 points and had four three-pointers, moving into third place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,628 career points. Maus had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Grusczynski scored 13 points.

“It’s an 80-minute weekend,” Pointers’ coach Jack Bennett said. “We played a pretty solid 40 minutes tonight and we need to play a great 40 minutes tomorrow.”