No. 3 UW-Stevens Point used a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures and some clutch free throw shooting in the final minute by Ross Rortvedt to hand No. 5 Augustana a rare home court defeat by a score of 73-63 on Saturday in the Roy J. Carver PE Center.
UW-Stevens Point took the lead for good when the game was less than five minutes old and then played keepaway the rest of the night. Augustana used a 9-2 run to cut the Pointers' lead to 29-25 with 2:20 left in the half but couldn't get any closer before the break.
&&b-boxr&&With 6:02 to play Dain Swetalla hit a basket to cut the lead to three and after a defensive stop Augustana had a chance to tie the game. Matt Pelton had a good look at a three pointer that would have tied it with 5:02 remaining but the shot rimmed out. A three point basket by Pete Rortvedt at 4:30 and a runner by Khalifa El-Amin at 3:29 bounced the margin up to 61-53. El-Amin hit a carbon copy of his first runner at the 2:00 mark to make it a 10 point advantage 63-53. Both shots just cleared the outstretched arm of the Vikings' leading shot blocker, Chandlor Collins.
In the final two minutes Augustana managed to cut the lead to 65-61 with :36 left on two free throws by Pelton. However, Ross Rortvedt nailed six straight free throws in the final :36 and Matt Moses was good on both of his to seal the victory. Full story.