The Falcons men's basketball team's unprecedented journey of a worst-to-first season finished one game short as they lost at UW-Stevens Point in the 2011 WIAC Championship, 79-56, Saturday afternoon.
The Pointers claim the WIAC tournament crown for the third consecutive year and remain undefeated at home in 2011.
No team has fared well at UWSP over the past three years as the Pointers have now won 30 of their last 31 in Stevens Point. The Falcons have been victim to the Pointers in each of their last 17 trips to Stevens Point, with their last victory in Stevens Point in December of 1994.
Experience played a major factor in the 2011 Championship game as the Pointers have played in this game five straight years, while the Falcons were making their first appearance.
Out of the gates, the Falcons put up four quick points and held the Pointers without a bucket for the first few minutes. Both teams played physical defense, not allowing the opposition inside, this led to the Pointers three-point attack which was like no other in the history of the WIAC Championship game.
After building a 15-10 lead early in the game, the Pointers went on a 15-0 run to take a 30-10 lead with 8:18 remaining in the opening half. The Pointers took a 39-20 lead into the half, making 11 threes in the opening 20 minutes and shooting 51.6 percent of the floor.
The Pointers started hitting threes and never slowed down tying the WIAC Championship game record with 15 three-pointers. They owned the presence on the glass in the first half with a 26-10 edge, including 9-1 advantage on the offensive side while holding the Falcons to just 8-26 shooting.
Shane Manor (Altoona, UW-Superior) led the Falcons with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Jake Voeltz (River Falls, River Falls HS) was the only other Falcon in double digits with 10. Brady Hannigan (Oakdale, MN, North St. Paul HS) finished with seven points, three steals, and four rebounds including three offensive boards. Brian Kimble (Stevenson Ranch, CA, Coll. of Canyons JC) also had three steals and Aaron Anderson (Stillwater, MN, Stillwater HS) pulled down five boards for the Falcons
UWSP's Jordan Giordana and Vinny Ritchay each finished with double digits as they had 13 and 12 points, respectively. Tyler Tillema had a game-high five assists for the Pointers. With the win the Pointers earned the WIAC automatic berth into the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
The Falcons drop to 20-7 on the season and have built an impressive resume over the 2010-11 season, in hopes for an at-large berth into the 61-team NCAA Tournament. The announcement of the Div. III field will be presented via webcast on www.ncaa.com on Monday beginning at noon local time.
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