EAU CLAIRE - The No. 1-ranked UW-Stevens Point Pointers led from start to finish tonight, defeating the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team by a final score of 77-43 at Zorn Arena.

The Blugolds fall to an overall record of 7-7 and a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record of 1-5. The Pointers improve to an overall record of 13-1 and remain undefeated in WIAC play at 7-0. The Blugolds have now lost 11 straight against the Pointers with their last win coming on February 7th, 2001. The Pointers also take the advantage in the all-time series with a 77-76 record.

Back-to-back layups by Stevens Point gave the Pointers an early 4-0 lead. The Blugolds' Dan Beyer (Jr.-Waukesha, WI/Catholic Memorial) scored five of the first seven points for Eau Claire as they cut the lead to 8-7. The Blugolds hung in early as they were only down 15-14 after a Beyer layup with 11:45 remaining in the first half.

The Pointers then started to pull away. A pair of three-pointers by Pete Rortvedt and a trey by Steve Hicklin helped trigger a run of 23-3. During that span, the Pointers went on an 11-0 run to take a 38-17 lead with 4:42 remaining in the half. Stevens Point would go into halftime with a 43-24 advantage.

The Blugolds shot 43% in the first half, while Stevens Point shot 55%. The Pointers were also 5-of-11 behind the three-point line. The Blugolds had eight first half turnovers that led to 13 points for Stevens Point. The Pointers just had one turnover in the half.

Eau Claire scored the first points of the second half on a Jared Bardon (Jr.-DeForest, WI) layup, but it was more of the same from the Pointers. The leading three-point shooter in the conference, Pete Rortvedt, connected on a jumper and a three-pointer to extend the Stevens Point lead back to 20. The Pointers then slowly grew its lead throughout the half and they would go on to win by a final score of 77-43.

The Blugolds finished with a shooting percentage of 37%. Stevens Point shot 58% from the field and 47% from beyond the arc. The Pointers had 23 points off of turnovers, while the Blugolds had six. The Blugolds did out-rebound Stevens Point 28-27.

Steve Hoelzel (Jr.-Kaukauna, WI) led the Blugolds in scoring with 13 points. Zack Ryan (Jr.-Lake Elmo, MN/Tartan) and Dan Beyer each chipped in eight points. Beyer also led the Blugolds with six rebounds, including four offensive boards. Pete Rortvedt led all scorers with 18 for the Pointers. Conference leading scorer Jon Krull added 15 points.

Next up for the Blugolds is home contest with UW-Platteville on Saturday. That game kicks off a men's and women's doubleheader at Zorn Arena. The tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Eau Claire-Stevens Point Box Score

- JR -