STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The ninth-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team shot 55.6 percent in the second half to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit and defeat Lawrence 64-53 on Saturday afternoon at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse on Youth/Honor America Day.

Box Score

Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) added 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for UW-Stevens Point (4-3). The victory was the seventh in a row for the Pointers against Lawrence (3-4) since 2009.

Lawrence led 39-31 with 16:43 remaining in the second half before UW-Stevens Point went on a 7-0 run to get within a point. The Pointers took a 43-41 lead with 11:28 to go on a pair of McGann free throws to give UWSP its first lead since the 12:36 mark of the first half.

UW-Stevens Point led by three, 46-43, with 9:28 left in the second half before pulling away with an 11-2 run over a span of 6:01. The run was part of a stretch in which the Pointers outscored the Vikings 26-6 from the 16:43 mark of the second half until the 3:27 mark.

Zack Goedeke (Valders, WI/Valders) scored six points during the extended run and Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) hit a pair of clutch three-pointers as UW-Stevens Point took a 57-45 lead with 3:27 to go. The Pointers' bench scored 13 points in the second half and UWSP shot 55.6 percent (15-for-27) from the field and held Lawrence to just 29.6 percent (8-for-27) after halftime.

McGann shot 7-for-16 from the field in the game, including 5-for-8 in the second half, and added five rebounds to his 20 points. Fredrickson knocked down two of four three-pointers on his way to a career-high eight points.

Lawrence held UW-Stevens Point to 32.1 percent (9-for-28) shooting in the first half and took a 32-25 lead into the break. Jamie Nikitas and Jeremy Stephani combined for 26 of the Vikings' 32 points in the first half. Stephani scored five points during a 7-1 run in the middle of the first half to help Lawrence take a 21-12 lead.

After halftime, UW-Stevens Point held Nikitas and Stephani to a total of seven points on 2-for-16 shooting. Nikitas finished with 18 points and six rebounds and shot 5-for-18 from the field, while Stephani had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists on 6-for-20 shooting.

Fourteen of Stephani's 20 field-goal attempts were three-pointers as Lawrence shot 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from behind the arc and 35.8 percent (19-for-53) from the field. UW-Stevens Point shot 43.6 percent (24-for-55) in the win and had 14 assists compared to nine turnovers, led by seven assists by Stephen Pelkofer (Hales Corner, WI/Whitnall).

UW-Stevens Point hosts sixth-ranked St. Thomas on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse. The game will be the Pointers' fourth against a ranked team in its first eight games this season.