STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team lost to
UW-Platteville in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Tournament semifinals Thursday night, 60-56.
The Pointers (21-5) trailed at halftime 30-29, marking just the fourth time all season they've trailed at the break.
However, DeVon Jackson (Milwaukee/Rufus King/Williston
State) opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give UWSP a 32-30 lead.
The Pioneers' Chas Cross quickly responded with a 3-pointer of his own
to put Platteville (19-8) ahead 33-32, and the Pioneers maintained the
lead for the rest of the game.
The Pioneer lead peaked at 45-38 when Cross gathered a loose ball and
come through with a baseline dunk with 10:36 left in the second half.
In its ensuing possession, UWSP cut the deficit to 45-41 when Trevor
Hass (New London, WI/New London/Augustana (SD)) converted on a three-point play.
Trailing by four points with 1:17 remaining, Jackson drove to the basket for a layup to bring UWSP within 56-54.
The Pointer defense came up with a crucial stop and regained possession
down by two with 48 seconds left in the second half, but UWSP couldn't
capitalize on the other end.
A contested layup the Pioneers' Jim Stocki gave Plateville a 58-54 lead
with 16 seconds remaining and put the Pointers out of reach for good.
Jackson led the Pointers with 16 points and Hass followed with 12.
Cross led all scorers with 21 points.
