UWSP men stumble in second half to UWO, pick up win over Stout
For the Gazette
OSHKOSH/STEVENS POINT – For just the third time since the 1970-71 season, the UW-Stevens Point men’s basketball team allowed 105 or more points as host UW-Oshkosh (11-6, 5-1) snowballed momentum in the second half to a 105-95 win over the Pointers on Jan. 22.
Ethan Bublitz (Jackson) led all scorers with 28 points and led UWSP with eight rebounds. Blake Ehrke (Deerfield) and Garrett Nelson (Beaver Dam) added 23 points each, totals higher than any UWO player.
Nelson scored UWSP’s first eight points and Ehrke drained a three as UWSP led 11-10 four minutes in. Zach Mootz (Merrill) ended a six-minute drought from the floor with a layup, but UWSP trailed just 20-19 midway through the first half. Mootz scored twice more as UWSP took a 36-26 led following a 23-6 run.
UWSP’s three-point game heated up late in the first half with Brady Wagner (Lake Mills) hitting from deep. Bublitz drained a pair of long-range shots and Mootz drilled a triple at the buzzer for a 52-39 lead at the half.
Nelson scored seven points in the first six minutes of the second half, but UWO scored 19 in that span to make it a one-possession game. The teams traded buckets over the next six minutes until a three by the Titans put UWSP behind by five.
Nelson scored with 7:45 left to get UWSP within 78-75, but the Pointers again went cold from the field until an Ehrke three with 3:18 remaining cut the deficit to 10. With just under a minute left, the Titans hit the century mark and the game was well out of reach by that point.
On Jan. 26, the Pointers (12-6, 4-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back in a 70-56 win over UW-Stout (5-13, 1-6).
Nelson led all players with 17 points. Ehrke added 15 points and had a game-high six rebounds. Bublitz rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers with 10 points.
Bublitz scored the first four points of the game and Ehrke completed an and-one for a 9-2 lead four minutes in. Peter Timmerman (Dubuque, IA) drilled a three-pointer to put UWSP in front 14-8. An Ehrke layup at the midway point of the half saw UWSP double-up the Blue Devils, 20-10.
Jeven Sachtjen (Manawa) and Mayson Hazaert (Greenleaf) got on the scoresheet as the lead continued to grow. Hazaert and Mootz hit consecutive threes and the Pointers led 39-22 at the half.
Ehrke nailed a triple early in the second half and a Matt Koerner (West Bend) basket made the lead 20. Ehrke hit another long-range shot and Brady Wagner (Lake Mills) was good from behind the arc down the stretch as the Pointers rolled to victory.