STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Stephen Pelkofer drained a three-pointer from the right wing with one second remaining to give the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team a 60-57 win over Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) foe UW-Platteville on Wednesday night at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.
Pelkofer received the ball on a kickout from Sean McGann and sank the game-winning three from in front of the UW-Stevens Point (8-6, 1-2 WIAC) bench to finish with a career-high 24 points. The three came after Ethan Bublitz steal wutg 13 seconds left when UW-Platteville (6-8, 0-3 WIAC) had an opportunity to hold for the last shot.
The Pointers trailed 57-52 with 1:37 remaining in the game after a three-pointer from Peyton River rattled in for the Pioneers. Bublitz made a pair of free throws and made a block on the defensive end and Drew Fredrickson later nailed a three with 26 seconds left out of a timeout to tie the game and set up Pelkofer's heroics.
Pelkofer shot 9-for-13 from the field, 3-for-7 from behind the arc and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line for his 24 points and also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. The senior now has 42 points in his last two games.
UW-Stevens Point led by one at halftime after McGann hit a shot in the closing seconds of the first half but extended its lead to six with the first five points of the second half. Pelkofer produced the first points of the half with a layup and then Fredrickson hit a three to put the Pointers ahead 37-31, their largest lead of the night.
UW-Platteville responded with a 9-2 run to take a 40-39 lead with 14:52 remaining after a Corey Vaassen three-pointer. Vaasen had a team-high 18 points on 6-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe for the Pioneers.
Neither team led by more than three after Vaassen's three until the Pioneers took a 50-46 advantage with 4:37 to go on a Vaassen layup. However, the Pointers closed the game on a 10-3 run to claim their first WIAC win of the year.
UW-Stevens Point shot 42.6 percent (23-for-54) from the field in the game, while UW-Platteville shot at 43.2 percent (19-for-44). Both teams shot the ball better in the opening half, as the Pointers were 50.0 percent (14-for-28) from the floor and the Pioneers were 46.2 percent (12-for-26) before the break.
UW-Platteville led for 17:33 in the first half behind 10 points from Vaassen. Pelkofer and McGann combined for 21 of UW-Stevens Point's 32 first-half points in a half that featured seven lead changes.
McGann added 12 points in the win for the Pointers, while Matt Oestreich chipped in 10 for the Pioneers. UW-Stevens Point held a 31-27 edge on the glass thanks in part to 11 offensive rebounds, which led to a 16-5 advantage in second-chance points.
The Pointers host UW-Oshkosh on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. in an adjusted tip-off time at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.