Five players scored in double figures as the University of the Ozarks men's basketball team earned a 87-76 road win over Henderson State, while No. 3 UW-Stevens Point jumped out to a 17-1 lead in defeating Northern Michigan 77-52. The Pointers improved to 7-3 against Division II competition since the 1996-97 season. They also get the upper hand in the series improving to 13-12 all-time against Northern Michigan.
Ozarks (1-1) got balanced scoring and forced 17 turnovers to pick up their first win over Henderson State (0-3) since the 1994-95 season. Habeeb Kareem provided the Eagles with his first double-double of the year, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Eagles also took care of the ball, committing only nine turnovers in the non-conference tilt.
The Eagles held a 46-37 edge at the half, led by Jeremy Clark's 11 first-half points and 5-of-6 shooting. Clark's three-pointer at the 11:23 mark gave Ozarks a 23-17 advantage. Ozarks' largest first half lead came when both Ted Beard and Chris Clark canned three-pointers late in the half. Beard's came at the 2:22 mark, giving Ozarks a 43-34 lead, while Clark's came with 33 seconds left to make it 46-37.
Kareem then scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to slow any Reddie comebacks. Kareem's inside bucket with 15:42 remaining pushed Ozarks' advantage to 52-39. The Reddies slowly climbed back to cut the deficit to 69-66 with 4:52 left, but a Kareem three-point play on Ozarks' next possession put the Eagles back in control.
Beard finished 3-of-4 from the three-point line en route to scoring 17 points. Tony Brock hit 6-of-7 from the floor to add a career-high 16.
In Stevens Point, Wis., the Pointers were hot right from the tip-off. Bryan Beamish started with a basket underneath, followed by a pair of jumpers from Steve Hicklin and three-pointer from Pete Rortvedt which gave the Pointers a 9-0 advantage three minutes into the contest. Stevens Point extended the lead to 17-1 with 12:35 remaining in the first half following another three-point field goal from Rortvedt.
The Wildcats got their first field goal of the game with 11:34 left in the first half as Northern Michigan missed its first nine field goal attempts. The Pointers lead grew to 26 after a Ross Rortvedt jumper with 4:52 remaining in the half. Northern Michigan ended the half with an 8-0 run to make the score 40-23 at halftime.
Rortvedt and Hicklin each had nine points in the first half to lead the Points, while Drew Jackson had a team-high five rebounds. The Pointer bench outscored Northern Michigan 13-0 in the half.
The Wildcats got as close as 12 in the second half, but could not get the margin below double digits. With 2:43 left, the Pointers completed a 12-0 run to take a 74-47 lead after a layup by Matt Moses.
The Pointers shot 55% from the field, while the Wildcats were held to just 39% shooting. Stevens Point went 12-for-28 from beyond the arc to give them 30 three-point field goals in the first two games.
Pete Rortvedt led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Khalifa El-Amin added 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists.