STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team held the lead until midway through the second half, but No. 7 UW-Stevens Point came back to win 57-44 tonight.

Eau Claire's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record evens up to 4-4 while the overall mark stands at 10-7. The Pointers are 6-2 in the conference and 14-3 overall.

The Blugolds took the lead early in the low-scoring first half on free throws. In a stretch of more than five minutes, there were only six points scored between both teams. They were all Blugold buckets and made for a 9-2 lead at 14:06.

Geoff Probst (So.-Moose Lake, MN) pushed it to double-digits at 10:29 from the line and the Blugolds built it to a 19-4 margin at 7:23. The Pointers really turned it on at that point, however, outscoring Eau Claire 17-6 in the last seven minutes.

The Blugolds were up 25-21 at half after going 9-of-18 (50.0 percent) from the floor and 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the line. Stevens Point went 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) and 3-for-7 (42.9 percent), respectively.

The visitors started out the second half on a 7-4 run and made it 32-25 with 17:35 to play. Stevens Point began cutting away at the lead, going on a 10-4 surge. The score remained 36-35 for a minute until the Pointers took their first lead of the day at 11:43. Eau Claire struck back and made it a four-point Blugold lead by 9:17.

Stevens Point took its turn creating a run and scored the next six to go up 43-41. Eau Claire would not see the lead the rest of the way. Between 9:17 and 2:09, Eau Claire only scored one point. Meanwhile, the home squad posted 13 points. The Pointers went on a 20-3 run in the last 9:17 and tallied the 57-44 victory.

The Blugolds' shooting percentage dropped dramatically to 27.3 percent in the second half while Stevens Point shot 58.3 percent. For the night, Eau Claire shot 37.5 percent compared to 46.8 percent. The 37.5 percent is second-lowest of the season. Eau Claire's score was lowest on the season and Stevens Point's was tied for second-least Eau Claire has allowed.

The Blugolds shot 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) on threes and 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) on free throws as Stevens Point went 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) and 9-for-15 (60.0 percent). The Blugolds gave up 17 turnovers and 11 steals and got nine turnovers in return. Eau Claire won the rebound battle 30-to-25.

Lost in the game were Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) and his double-double of 17 points and 10 boards. Steve Hicklin put up 18 points for Stevens Point. Hicklin also scored his 1,000th career point tonight.

Eau Claire looks to get back to its winning ways at home against UW-La Crosse on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Eau Claire-Stevens Point Box Score

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