Shane Manor scored 14 of his 21 after halftime to give UW-River Falls a come-from-behind victory against No. 13 UW-Stevens Point. Photo by Pat Coleman, D3sports.com

In a battle of the final two undefeated teams in the WIAC, the Falcons upset the Pointers in come-from-behind fashion, 73-70. Trailing by as much as 14 late in the first half and 12 in the second half, the Falcons rallied back to win for the 16th time in their last 17 games at Karges Center.

For the second consecutive season, the Falcons have knocked off a ranked Pointers team in a series that had been lopsided in recent history.  The Pointers had won 31 of 32 games against the Falcons from 1995-2010. Now the Falcons have won each of the last two meetings at Karges Center as they improve to 10-3 overall and 4-0 in the WIAC.

"It was a big win for our program defeating Stevens Point, which is usually one of the top teams in our conference." said Falcon coach Jeff Berkof.
 
It was the first meeting of the WIAC's top two teams since the 2011 WIAC championship game in which the Pointers hit 15 threes en route to their third consecutive title. Wednesday's game opened up with the same feeling as UWSP hit four of their first five three-pointers to jump to an early nine point lead.
 
The Falcons came in as the third best shooting team in the WIAC, but opened with their worst shooting half since mid-November as they hit just 37.5% from the field.  UWSP took advantage of the Falcon mishaps, pouring in 11 points off five turnovers in the first 20 minutes to take a 40-30 halftime lead.

"We made some changes in the second half," said Berkof. "Defensively, we went to a zone, but then later on made some more changes as the half continued."
 
After trailing for the first 30 minutes, the Falcons grabbed their first lead when Shane Manor (Altoona, WI, UW-Superior) hit a streaking Ollie White (Minnetrista, MN, Mound-Westonka HS) for an easy layup for a 54-53 lead with 9:33 remaining.  It was part of the Falcons scoring 12 unanswered points in a stretch where they held the potent UWSP offense without a point for five minutes.
 
Aaron Anderson (Stillwater, MN, Stillwater HS) hit his first three of the night to top off the Falcons 17-2 run, giving them the largest lead of the night at 61-55. 
 
Manor hit two clutch free throws in the final seconds to increase the lead to three as the Senior finished with 21 points, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season.  Up by one with 14 seconds to go, the Falcons fought off the Pointers press, avoided a foul as Manor found Taylor Peterson (Roselle, IL, Conant HS) wide open under the net for an easy bucket to clinch the victory at 73-70.
 
Brian Kimble (Stevenson Ranch, CA, Coll. of Canyons JC) made his presence all over the court in Wednesday's victory scoring 11 points, picking up five rebounds, three steals, and tying a career-best eight assists. White added 16 points as he has averaged 16.67 points-per-game over the last three contests. Taylor Peterson was the fourth Falcon in double figures as he finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
The Falcons were dominant on the glass, just as they have been all season. Entering the game with a WIAC-best plus-5.8 rebounding margin, the Falcons nearly doubled the Pointers rebounding total with a 44 to 26 edge. The 16 offensive rebounds by the Falcons was the second highest total of the season, Zach Peterson (Circle Pines, MN, Centennial HS) leading the way with five.

Just hours after the women Falcons knocked off the Pointers, the men followed suit, marking the first time since the 1990-91 season both the men and women beat the Pointers in the same season – 21 years ago.
 
One year ago, the Falcon upset the top-ranked Pointers at Karges Center to propel a school-best 15-game winning streak.  Today's win puts them in the driver's seat as the lone unbeaten team in the WIAC.
 
They have another tough challenge in a few days as they head to No. 10 Whitewater on Saturday. Tipoff is at 6 P.M.

Box Score