APPLETON, Wis. — The No. 21 UW-Stevens Point men’s basketball team held off Lawrence University 60-49 in a nonconference battle on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Lawrence battled back from double-digit deficits in each half, but the Pointers rallied each time to post their fourth consecutive victory.
Jordan Lutz led four UW-Stevens Point players in double figures with 15 points. Stephen Pelkofer and Alex Richard added 14 points apiece for Stevens Point (7-2).
Jamie Nikitas paced the Vikings (4-3) with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Jeremy Stephani came off the bench to add nine points.
The Vikings were ice cold to start the game, and Stevens Point led by double figures at 11-1 with 12:54 left in the first half. Lawrence, which shot just 32.5 percent for the game, trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but the Vikings rallied late. Nikitas buried a 3-pointer and Mitch Willer added a layup to trim the margin to 26-19 at the half.
Stevens Point built the lead back to 38-28 on Lutz’s 3-pointer with 11:38 left in the game, but Lawrence responded again. Nikitas and Connor Weas hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Stephani converted a free throw to cut the margin to 38-35 with 9:53 remaining.
The Vikings began attacking the basket and got their next seven points from the foul line. Stevens Point absorbed every punch and started to pull away. Three consecutive layups, two from Richard and another from Pelkofer, built the advantage to 51-39 with 3:12 left.
Sonnleitner countered with a pair of free throws for the Vikings, but Austin Ryf followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession for the Pointers to help seal the victory.
Stevens Point then made 4-of-5 free throws in the final 40 seconds to put the game away.