Pointers win third national tite

Mar 20, 2010
UW-Stevens Point and its fans celebrated a third Division III title.
 Photo by Ryan Tipps, D3sports.com

UW-Stevens Point went on a 22-5 run in the second half to turn a 54-44 deficit into a 66-59 advantage and went on to win the 2010 Division III men's basketball national championship, 78-73 over Williams.

Matt Moses, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, scored a game-high 22 points and Jared Jenkins added 17, but it was Dan Tillema who came off the bench for the Pointers to spark the run with three 3-pointers. He finished with 15 points.

"All I can say is we had tremendous courage at about that 10-minute mark when we fought back and put ourselves in position to reach our dreams," UW-Stevens Point coach Bob Semling said after the game. "To be able to finish this game and finish this season with a victory ... I’m extremely proud. I can’t say enough about these guys, the courage of my young men.  I can’t be more proud up here sitting in front of you guys."

For Moses, the win fulfilled the destiny of his senior class, Evans Clinchy writes. Moses' class came to Stevens Point the year after the Pointers won their second of back-to-back titles in 2005.

Joining Moses and Jenkins on the All-Tournament were Blake Schultz and Troy Whittington from Williams and Tyler Sanborn from Guilford.

Before the national title game, D3hoops.com announced its 2010 All-American team, with Carthage's Steve Djurickovic as the Player of the Year and Derek Raridon of North Central (Ill.) as the Rookie of the Year. After the game, Pointers coach Bob Semling was named the D3hoops.com Coach of the Year.

The day got started with a barn-burner as well, with the NABC Division III senior All-Stars battling to a 109-107 East victory in overtime. Evans Clinchy blogged live courtside as well.

2010 Division III men's basketball NCAA Tournament headlines

  • Moses, Pointers follow the path
    March 20, 2010
    Six years ago, Matt Moses was just another high school kid in Fond du Lac, watching from afar as the Pointers made history in Salem.
  • Pointers make it No. 3
    March 20, 2010
    UW-Stevens Point went on a 22-5 run in the second half to turn a 54-44 deficit into a 66-59 advantage and went on to win the 2010 Division III men's basketball national championship, 78-73 over Williams.
  • It's 2004 all over again
    March 19, 2010
    It's a rematch of the 2004 national title game, as UW-Stevens Point will face Williams on Saturday afternoon in Salem, with the winner taking home Walnut and Bronze.
  • Back in line with expectations
    March 18, 2010
    Whether it's soccer, tennis, track, cross country, crew, or whatever else, Williamstown is title town in D-III athletics. Why should hoops be any different?
  • No stranger to this field
    March 18, 2010
    It's not as though Randolph-Macon's never made noise in March before. In Nathan Davis' Yellow Jackets, you're looking at a men's basketball program with a history of getting it done in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Pointers' return trip a long time in coming
    March 18, 2010
    It has only been five years since UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team won the second of back-to-back NCAA Tournament championships, but for the Pointers, it seems like an eternity.
  • Second Final Four much more familiar for Guilford
    March 17, 2010
    Last year's national semifinal loss can be erased from the memory bank with a solid showing against Williams in the first of two semifinals from the Salem Civic Center on Friday night.
  • Familiar faces are headed for Salem
    March 13, 2010
    Two ODAC teams and two of Salem's frequent flyers will make up this season's Division III men's basketball Final Four, as Randolph-Macon and Guilford will return to the site of the ODAC tournament and Williams and UW-Stevens Point, who played for the 2004 title, punched their tickets as well.
  • Elite Eight is ODAC's dominion
    March 12, 2010
    Three Old Dominion Athletic Conference teams are in the Elite Eight as the Sweet 16 of Division III men's basketball is in the books.
  • The shot heard 'round the bracket
    March 08, 2010
    Dominick Chierico was standing on the baseline at William Paterson with a camera and captured the defining moment of the first round.
  • Sectional sites announced
    March 07, 2010
    The host schools for next weekend's men's and women's sectional rounds have been announced.
  • 2010 men's tournament preview
    March 02, 2010