UW-Stevens Point 87, UW-Stout 72
STEVENS POINT (February 25, 2010) - UW-Stevens Point outscored UW-Stout 21-2 over a five minute stretch to melt a second half Stout lead and the Pointers went on to down the Blue Devils, 87-72, in a WIAC tournament semi-final game Thursday on Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse.
Stout (16-11) held a 38-34 halftime lead on the strength of 12 points by
Mahlon Thomas (Jr, Brooklyn Center, Minn), then built that up to a 55-47 lead seven minutes into the second half when the Pointers (22-4) went off on their run over the next five minutes.
Eric Hostetter (Jr, Stillwater, Minn) finally slowed down the run with a 3-pointer to make the score 68-60.
Stout would whittle the lead down to as close as six points, 72-66, on a layup by
Michael Fant (Sr, Weston) at 4:23, but that would be as close as Stout would get. In the final two minutes of the game, the Pointers made 7-of-8 free throws and had two dunks.
Jerrel Enerson-Matthews (Sr, Anoka, Minn) closed out an illustrious career by scoring 22 points for the Blue Devils. Enerson-Matthews moved into third on the UW-Stout all-time scoring list with 1458 points. Thomas finished the night with 14 points and Fant contributed 11.
The Pointers had five players in double figures, including four starters. Matt Moses led the way with 23 points. Louis Hurd added 14 points, Jared Jenkins 12 and Nick Krull and Dan Tillema, 10 apiece.
In the other semi-final game, UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Superior, 86-70. Stevens Point will travel to Whitewater Saturday, Feb. 27 for the championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
