Sports
Pointer Louis Hurd passing the ball during Wednesday night’s game.
Pointer men’s basketball pulls through tough win
The Pointer
rnech142@uwsp.edu
Number three ranked men’s basketball team gave the hometown crowd an exciting victory Wednesday night against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The Pointers earned their eleventh straight win in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 61-58 victory over the Blugolds, maintaining their unbeaten conference record.
Louis Hurd, the WIAC men’s basketball Athlete of the Week, said University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point knew it was in for a challenge coming into the match-up.
“We knew Eau Claire was playing pretty well lately and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Hurd said. “There’s probably going to be more games like that down the road; we’re going to have to grind it out to have that pre-tournament mode.”
The Blugolds cut away the Pointers’ lead when they tied at 56 points late in the fourth quarter. UW-SP’s Bryan Beamish and Pete Rortvedt each scored a pair of free throws to help the Pointers finish off their opponent.
Rortvedt led the team with 24 points and Beamish added 12 points.
“I thought we were up and down; I thought we had good stretches of defense and then all of a sudden we had a few letdowns,” Semling said. “[The Blugolds] are a good enough team to take advantage of that.”
Semling said the game was exciting and that the energy really pumped up the team.
“Those four seniors really understand big, tough games and they like that pressure down the stretch,” Semling said. “You’re so engaged because the crowd’s into it, the drama is so great at that point.”
The Pointers travel to UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse in conference games during the next week. They return home to host their final regular season match-up against UW-Platteville on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Semling said that these games in the upcoming championship stretch are very meaningful because it’s the point in the season when “the marathon turns into a sprint.”
“I told our men in the locker room afterwards, I said this is a good win, make sure you enjoy this,” he said. “It’s ok to struggle because it makes you tougher.”
