RIVER FALLS, Wis. – UW-River Falls gradually pulled away from the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team in the final 6:38 of the game to defeat the Pointers 56-48 on Wednesday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) matchup on Wednesday night at Karges Center.
UW-River Falls (11-5, 5-0 WIAC) led UW-Stevens Point (8-8, 1-4 WIAC) by two, 45-43, with 6:38 remaining but held the Pointers to five points the rest of the way to win a low-scoring contest. Garrett Pearson scored five of his 13 points down the stretch for the Falcons to help the hosts stay unbeaten in conference play.
Three points from Pearson and two free throws by Jack Herum extended UW-River Falls' lead to 50-43 with 3:30 remaining in the fourth. However, a layup by Ethan Bublitz and a three-pointer by Drew Fredrickson on either side of a Herum layup kept the Pointers in touch, down 52-48 with 2:20 to go.
The teams traded stops, leaving the Falcons up four with 1:13 remaining but the hosts made all four free throws the rest of the way and held UW-Stevens Point scoreless after Fredrickson's three with 2:20 to play.
Pearson was 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 at the free-throw line on his way to 13 points and six rebounds. Brennan Witt led both teams with 14 points on 5-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe off the UWRF bench.
Bublitz paced the Pointers with 10 points and five rebounds. Stephen Pelkofer added nine, while Sean McGann and Zack Goedeke each pitched in eight. Mark Nelson played a season-high 19 minutes and contributed six points and six boards off the bench.
UW-River Falls shot 40.8 percent (20-for-49) from the field in the game, compared to 33.3 percent (19-for-57) for UW-Stevens Point. The Falcons held a 42-28 advantage on the glass, led by Grant Erickson's eight rebounds and six each from Jon Christensen and Pearson.
The Pointers held Christensen, the WIAC's leading scorer entering the game at 20.7 points per game, to just nine points on 3-for-8 shooting. UW-Stevens Point also turned the ball over just five times but was outscored 24-10 in the paint.
In the first half, UW-River Falls led by as many as 11 at 25-14 with 6:39 until halftime but UW-Stevens Point responded with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to four. The Falcons went back ahead by eight before a McGann jumper at the buzzer made it 30-24 in favor of UWRF at the half.
The Pointers host UW-La Crosse on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. at Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.