EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Brad Freeborn came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points but the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team could not overcome a slow start in a 63-59 loss at UW-Eau Claire in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams on Wednesday evening at Zorn Arena.
 
Box Score
 
Freeborn was 4-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line for UW-Stevens Point (7-5, 0-1 WIAC) in the first double-digit scoring game of his career. However, UW-Eau Claire (8-4, 1-0 WIAC) got out to an early 14-3 lead and never trailed in the game.
 
The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Pointers in WIAC openers. UW-Stevens Point has now won 29 of the last 31 games in the series with the Blugolds since 2002.
 
UW-Eau Claire made five of its first six shots from the field to race out to a 14-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Tyson Kalien hit two of UW-Eau Claire's three three-pointers during the quick start, which also included a three-point play by Jacob Kohner.
 
UW-Stevens Point fought back to get within three points with 13-5 run that left the Pointers down 19-16 midway through the first half after a three-point play by Sean McGann. Later, the Blugolds took a 37-27 lead into the locker room by closing the half on a 7-1 run.
 
The Pointers cut the UWEC lead to three on four occasions in the second half but could not get any closer. After UW-Stevens Point trailed 53-50 with 5:44 remaining, the Blugolds went on an 8-1 to take a 10-point lead with 31 seconds on the clock.
 
UW-Eau Claire led by eight with just 23 seconds remaining but UW-Stevens Point got three-pointers from Luke Zuiker and Drew Fredrickson four seconds apart in the final 10 seconds to make it a three-point game with three seconds to go. However, the Blugolds inbounded the ball and made one free throw to put the game away.
 
McGann scored a game-high 19 points on 8-for-20 shooting for UW-Stevens Point and was joined in double figures by Freeborn. UW-Stevens Point shot just 32.4 percent (23-for-71) from the field and 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from behind the arc.
 
The Pointers committed just five turnovers in the game and held a 14-6 advantage in points off turnovers in the loss.
 
Jared Schneidermann was 6-for-8 from the field, including three three-pointers, on his way to 17 points to lead UW-Eau Claire. George Diekelman added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Andrew Duxbury chipped in 12 points off the bench for the Blugolds, who shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) from the field.
 
UW-Stevens Point is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 9 at No. 15 UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.