Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Tyler Tillema (Randolph, WI/Randolph) hit a jumper from the top of the key with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift the top-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team to a 66-64 road win over North Central (Ill.) in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday evening at Gregory Arena.
 
Box Score
 
Following Tillema's pull-up jumper, the Cardinals (7-4) got a good look at a corner three from Tyler Sutton but his game-winning attempt bounced high off the rim as the Pointers (11-0) completed a tough three-game stretch with another win.
 
Sutton's three free throws tied the score at 62 with 1:51 to play before Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall) gave UWSP a 64-62 lead with 41 seconds remaining off an assist from Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne). North Central responded with a layup by Vince Kmiec to knot the score at 64-64 with 16 seconds to go, setting up the dramatic final two possessions.
 
Tillema scored a game-high 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting and shot 7-for-12 from the free-throw line. The senior also added five rebounds five assists in his third 30-point game of the season.
 
Trevor Hass (New London, WI/New London/Augustana (SD)) backed up his 40-point game by shooting 8-for-11 from the field and scoring 20 points. Hass picked up his sixth 20-point game this year and scored at least 20 in each of the last three games.
 
North Central held its largest lead of the game at 37-31 with 16:00 remaining after a quick 6-0 run. In a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes, the Pointers did not take the lead in the second half until the 8:23 mark off a transition three-pointer by Hass.
 
With just under six minutes to play, UW-Stevens Point built up its largest lead of the game, 57-49, after Tillema scored five points in a span of a minute and a half. Tillema scored 19 points in the second half and 28 in the final 25 minutes of the game. The Cardinals then held the Pointers to three points in three minutes of game time, as North Central eventually evened matters in the final minute.
 
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half. UW-Stevens Point got off to a 5-0 start by holding North Central scoreless for the first 3:49 of the game. The Cardinals led by as many as four in the opening half and took a three-point advantage into the locker room after Pat Rourke banked in a three from beyond half-court.
 
Landon Gamble led the Cardinals with 17 points on 6-for-9 from the field. Jack Burchett had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half and finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Vince Kmiec had 14 points and five assists before fouling out.
 
Other than Tillema and Hass, no Pointers player scored more than four points but UWSP got seven important bench points in the second half. UW-Stevens Point forced 16 North Central turnovers and turned them into a 15-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Pointers shot 49.0 percent for the game, marking the first time all season the team shot below 50.0 percent from the floor. UWSP shot 42.9 percent in the first half before heating up to 56.5 percent in the second half.
 
UW-Stevens Point hosts UW-La Crosse on Saturday, looking for its third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) win of the season. The Pointers and Eagles tip-off at 3 p.m. at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.