Hass, men's basketball ride hot shooting to season-opening win over Lawrence

More news about: UW-Stevens Point
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Trevor Hass (New London, WI/New London/Augustana (SD)) scored a career-high 33 points and the No. 4 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team shot 60.0 percent from the floor in a 99-73 non-conference win over visiting Lawrence University in the season opener for both teams on Saturday night at Jack Bennett Court in Quandt Fieldhouse.

Box Score

Hass was red-hot from the start, hitting four threes in two minutes and four seconds early in the first half. The senior was 7-for-7 from behind the arc in the game, including 6-for-6 in 17 first-half minutes. Hass shot 13-for-17 from the field in the game and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

After leading by 14 at halftime, UW-Stevens Point (1-0) increased its lead to 16 points early in the second half but then Lawrence (1-1) went on a run to get back within reach. Chris Siebert had five points during the 13-3 run, as the Vikings cut the deficit to 67-61 with 11:29 to play.

The Pointers responded to the Vikings run by scoring six straight points of their own. Tyler Tillema (Randolph, WI/Randolph), who scored 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting, scored all six to help UWSP get the lead back to double digits.

With 5:26 to play, UW-Stevens Point led by 12 before the Pointers scored 15 of the game's final 16 points. Tillema again keyed the late-game spurt by scoring eight points to end any thought of a Lawrence comeback.

The Pointers scored 53 first-half points shot 62.5 percent before the break. UWSP led by as many as 19 in the opening half. UW-Stevens Point made six straight shots in a 12-2 first-half run to take a 35-16 lead before Lawrence narrowed the gap at the half.

In addition to Hass and Tillema's 56 combined points, Clayton Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln/UW-Green Bay) was the only UWSP player in double figures, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds. UW-Stevens Point shot 12-for-16 (75.0 percent) from behind the arc for the game and committed only 10 turnovers.

Lawrence had five players make it to double digits in scoring, led by Siebert and Ryan DePouw's 15 points each. The Vikings made just seven of 29 threes (24.1 percent) but outrebounded the Pointers 35-31 in the contest. Lawrence had 14 offensive rebounds to seven for UW-Stevens Point.

The Pointers face Edgewood on the road on Monday night at 7 p.m. Last season, UWSP topped Edgewood 63-48 at home on Dec. 15.