Pointers take down ranked Wildcats

By Ronica Thousand 

The Pointers picked up a conference road victory Thursday night, defeating the No. 10 Southwestern Wildcats 71–67 to complete a regular-season sweep.

The game stayed close from start to finish, with both teams exchanging leads throughout. The Pointers executed late to pull out the four-point win on Southwestern’s home court. 

Drew Aschliman led the Pointers with 28 points, while Keaton Dempsey followed with 26, accounting for much of the team’s offense. 

Southwestern was paced by Aiden Keleher, who scored 24 points. Sam Martin added 10 points for the Wildcats. 

The teams were closely matched across the stat sheet. The Pointers finished with 22 defensive rebounds and scored 30 points in the paint. Southwestern took advantage of turnovers, scoring 21 points off them, and added 15 points in transition.

“Really strong second half effort propelled us to tough SWAL victory in Southwestern against the 10th ranked Wildcats, MP coach Bret McGraw said. “We got down by as many as 10 in the first half but we just kept playing. Defensively, we were able to create some turnovers and get some steals to get our offense going a little bit. We did a much better job finishing plays off with rebounds in the second half.” 

McGraw felt past experience paid off for the Pointers from their leaders.

“Drew and Keaton have played in some really big games in their careers and tonight they turned it on when it mattered the most,” McGraw said. “They both have grown to become really good leaders for our team. I am proud of how hard our guys played and battled a really good Southwestern team. Drew and Keaton had big nights offensively but I really thought our team hung together and made winning plays when we needed them.“ 

SCORE BY HALVES

Mineral Point    29    42    71

Southwestern    34    33    67

BOX SCORE:

MINERAL POINT 71 (fg-ft-tp): D. Aschliman 5-9-28, K. Dempsey 10-4-26, A. Patterson 4-0-9, H. Schroeder 1-1-3, C. Ripp 1-0-2, T. Vamstad 1-0-2, B. Bossert 0-1-1, B. Lee 0-0-0. Totals 23-15/21-71. Fouls- 10.

SOUTHWESTERN 67: A. Kelcher 6-4-19, S. Martin 5-2-12, R. Lawrence 4-0-11, C. Splinter 3-0-8, C. DeMuth 2-3-7, D. Martin 2-0-6, L. Reuter 1-0-2, L. Foley 1-0-2. Totals 24-9/11-67. Fouls- 14.

3 Pointers Made:

MP- D. Aschliman 5, K. Dempsey 2, A. Patterson 1.

SW- A. Kelcher 3, R. Lawrence 3, C. Splinter 2.