The Wisconsin-Stevens Point basketball team had some extra pressure in the weekend’s Division-III basketball Final-Four at the Salem Civic Center.
Keep the streak alive.
Having never lost in six previous Final-Four games in the City of Champions, Stevens Point captured their fourth D-III title Saturday afternoon with a dominating 70-54 win over Augustana College (IL) to once again take the prized hardware back to central Wisconsin.
“I absolutely love this place,” Stevens Point head coach Bob Semling said after celebrating with his team in the traditional post-game trophy presentation, team photos and cutting down the nets.
It was Semling’s second championship win in Salem (winning also in 2010) after taking over for Jack Bennett (the uncle of UVA’s Tony Bennett) who took UWSP to the title in 2004 and 2005.
The Pointers reached the final after a hard-fought 68-59 win over ODAC member Virginia Wesleyan Friday night in a game that saw Stevens Point play to its strength by controlling the Marlin’s face-paced style while using physical play in the paint.
After leading 33-30 at the halftime break, UW-Stevens Point pushed its lead further and Virginia Wesleyan could get no closer than seven points down the stretch.
Saturday afternoon against Augustana it was much of the same for the Pointers.
Things were tied at 19 before UWSP went on a 8-0 surge to go up 27-19 with 4:05 left in the opening half. The Pointers led 32-23 at the break.
Stevens Point took up where they left off to start the second half, opening with a 17-5 run that pushed their advantage to 49-28.
Augustana chipped away to cut the Pointer lead to single digits with four minutes left, but Stevens Point answered the call by finishing the game with a 10-2 run to close the deal.
UWSP dominated from behind-the-arc, hitting on 12-of-18 bombs that dashed any hopes by Augustana.
Senior Austin Ryf, named the tournament’s most outstanding player, led Stevens Point with a game-high 17 points. Fellow senior Joe Ritchay knocked down 15 points for the Pointers while junior guard Stephen Pelkofer canned 14 points in the win. Senior Jordan Lutz added 9 points on three long-range bombs.
Brandon Motzel paced Augustana with 14 points while Hunter Hill added 13 for the Vikings.
Bill Turner
