Good evening everyone,

The first round has come and gone...with a Pointer victory!  The Cornell Rams gave a valiant effort but ended up falling short as we pulled away at the end 61-53.  We came out with guns blazing, going up 8-0.  Our biggest lead of the night was twelve, as we went up 20-8 midway through the first half.  Cornell came roaring back, though.  Although they never lead throughout the whole game, they did knot it up at 53.  Tough defense and a couple key offensive rebounds down the stretch ended up being the deciding factors.

Khalif El-Amin and Matt Moses led us with 17 points each.  Mo also snagged 11 rebounds as he finished with a double-double.  Big Philly is proud I am sure.  (Phil is Matt's father.)

Up next is tomorrow's game against the host Tommies.  St. Thomas is currently 28-0 and ranked #1 in the country.  It's going to be a great atmosphere tomorrow night!

Special shout-outs tonight go to the fans who drove all the way up here to support us, especially the student fanbus, which ended up bringing 40-50 Point students to give us a taste of the home crowd.  It was a great first game...but we're not done yet!

Roommate Jared Jenkins and I are sitting in the hotel room watching a little NBA.  Bedtime is drawing near...I think it's time to get to know my eyelids a little better...

Until next time, God bless and Go Pointers! 

Here are the visible memories of the tournament celebration...

Pose with the cheerleaders

The Four Horsemen (Jerome Wotachek, Pete Rortvedt, Bryan Beamish, Khalif El-Amin)

Team Celebrating

Teammate Vinny Ritchay, friend Brad Davis, teammate Kevin Flynn, myself, and friend Jason Thomas

Teammate/Roomate Nick Krull and I

The Hurd Family

Sophomore Jared Jenkins with my sister Jayne, who took most of these photos.

Who are we?? POINTERS!

2009 WIAC Tournament Champions

Thanks to my teammates, friends, and family for making this a special day!

(If you didn't notice, I blogged before I put the photos up, so scroll down on the website to read about the game) 

Good Evening Bloggers,

Well we got it done!  Check another box off the "To Do" list.  I think I can safely say that Saturday was my favorite day as a Pointer.  What a battle with UW-Platteville!  In a game where points were about as hard to come by as a cell phone signal in Northern Wisconsin we managed to edge out the Pioneers 45-42 on Bennett Court.  I'm really proud of my teammates and our preparation for 7'0 center Jeff Skemp and his Pioneers.  We held the senior to zero field goals for the game as he finished with only two free throws.  Our defensive effort ended up being the deciding factor in the game as we only managed 45 points ourselves.  While every point was needed to get the job done, four of the game's biggest points came from senior captains Khalif El-Amin and Bryan Beamish late down the stretch.  Lil' Fella hit a floater as the shot clock expired to put us up three with about thirty seconds left.  After a lay-up by Pioneer sophomore Nick Allen on the other end cut it to one, the Beamer was fouled to stop the clock.  Bryan sank both from the charity stripe to get the lead back to three. Pioneer Curt Hanson's three ball fell off the mark on the ensuing possession...

...and then came the pandemonium.  Haha...I am picturing it in my head right now.  Guys were jumping off the bench, my teammates hugging each other, the Nightmare on 4^th Street student section storming the court, and the Pointer Faithful rising to their feet with an appreciative applause that I will never find in any other gym in America.  It is our fifth title in the eleven years that the WIAC has had a conference tournament.  I hope to snag a few more before my time here is through.  To see so many jubilant people simply because of our effort is all the motivation I need.

The day after the game my teammate Vinny Ritchay had us all over for steaks at his parents' house in nearby Wisconsin Rapids.  We filled up as a team and had a good bonding session while waiting to see the unveiling of the 2009 NCAA Tournament Bracket.  We found out this morning (Monday) that we will be playing up at St. Thomas University in the Twin Cities against Cornell College out of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  If we win on Friday we will face the winner of the Aurora University Spartans and the host Tommies, who are undefeated and currently ranked #1 in NCAA Division III.  We are still taking it one game at a time, preparing this week for the Cornell Rams on Friday evening.

To our fans out there-we hope all of you can follow us up to St. Thomas to support us as you have all season long.  We are not done yet!!

This week's shoutout goes to Mike and Patti Ritchay for inviting us into their home for some great food and fellowship on Sunday.  Mike says I'm welcome anytime.  With all that good cooking I just might bring the sleeping bag over and change my mailing address!

Folks, it's the end of the regular season!  I am pleased to inform you (if you do not already know) that the 2008-2009 Pointers are WIAC Conference Champions!  I'm proud to say that I was a part of the squad that brought home the 25^th conference championship for Pointer Basketball.  We sealed up the championship with a win over UW-LaCrosse on the 18^th of February.  Rounding out the regular season was a heart-breaking home loss to UW-Platteville 55-52.  We didn't execute well and caught some bad breaks down the stretch.

We didn't like ending the regular season on such a sour note with that loss.  The conference championship is a marvelous achievement but the loss is still a thorn in my side.  We had a chance to prove ourselves once again as we started the WIAC tournament.  We got the #1 seed going into the tournament and ended up facing UW-Oshkosh for the third time this year.  The Titans were coming to town looking to upend us, but we took their best shots and finished the game victorious by a score of 81-69.  Congrats to Ted Van Dellen and his Titans for a wonderful season.

Back to the WIAC Championship!  It's my second championship game in as many years.  Last year we ran out of time against UW-Whitewater, losing 75-71 at Kachel Gymnasium.  This year is a whole different story.  We will be playing at home on Bennett Court against the Platteville Pioneers, who I had said earlier beat us during the regular season finale.  We hope for a different outcome tomorrow afternoon!

I'll let you know how the big game comes out!  Special shout-out this time goes to Deb Beamish, Bryan's mother.  She came up and thanked me for writing this blog after our Oshkosh win.  It's a great pleasure Mrs. B! We'll go get that WIAC Tourney Championship!

Good Evening Basketball Fans,

Once again it is time to blog.  I just got done doing some homework, so here we go.

We have been riding the wave for a couple weeks here.  The last time I checked in we had just beaten UW-Eau Claire at their gym.  Since then we have secured conference wins against Oshkosh, River Falls, Stout, and Superior.  All four of those games were sweeps of those teams.  We ended up having a non-conference match up against Viterbo University during that stretch, dismantling the V-Hawks with a score 92-40.  We have not lost a game since that dreaded home defeat against Carroll University back in December.  Knock on wood everybody!

It was a big day in the realm of Pointer Basketball last Saturday as we honored former UWSP coaches Dick and Jack Bennett by naming the court in Quandt Gym as "Bennett Court."  For those of you who do not know, Dick and Jack are brothers who amassed 373 wins in their combined 18 years at the helm of Pointer Men's Basketball.  Many were in attendance on Saturday:  fans, alumni, families, and friends of the two men who helped put Pointer Hoops on the national stage.  I was truly humbled to be a part of that historic day and will remember it for the rest of my days.

While everyone was having a grandiose time, our team told each other that we had the most important job-winning the game!  I knew everyone wanted to win so badly.  We went into the half only up ten but then came on in the second and finished off the Yellow Jackets by a score of 69-50.  Mission accomplished!

The halftime speech by Jack Bennett really caught me.  He reiterated Lou Gehrig's words during his retirement speech held at Yankee Stadium.  "Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth."  I have listened to Jack speak on a few different occasions and he always has a way with words.  He couldn't have said it any better than that.  He and his brother Dick really were the luckiest guys that day.  I thank them for all their hard work and dedication to the game of basketball and to Pointer Basketball.  My teammates and I are reaping many benefits because of those two men and they deserve every accolade they get and more.  It is now and forever will be "Bennett Court."

It's game night tomorrow against Eau-Claire.  We're looking for that next conference sweep.  Hopefully we can get the job done.

And a quick thank you to Adam Spoehr, our student assistant coach, who noticed some cobwebs lurking on my blog page.  I will try not to be tardy with my future posts!

God Bless and Go Pointers!

Good evening basketball fans,

School is back in session...hooray...  We are all trying to get back into the swing of things.  A week of classes is under the belt and everything is going about as smooth as possible.

We have started 8-0 in the WIAC after defeating UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday night by a score of 80-60.  What an accomplishment!  We are so very proud of each other.  It's great to give these wins to each other and to our Pointer Faithful.

Our next matchup is set for Saturday at home against UW-Oshkosh.  It'll be nice to have a couple home games in a row as we have been away from Quandt Gym for the majority of break.  We're expecting a big crowd!

While I try to give a weekly recap of games and such on these blogs, I'm going to take a different angle on this one.  While sitting up here over break I got to thinking, "Gee, I remember playing against some of my teammates in grade school and AAU and such."  This leads me to a very special conclusion:  Every single player on this Pointer Basketball team is from the state of Wisconsin.  That's hard to do!  We're all home grown and I think we should take a lot of pride in that.  Most players in the WIAC are also from Wisconsin.  We definetely hold our own.  Wisconsin does raise some darn good basketball players!

Of all my 13 other teammates this year, I have either watched, played with, or played against 10 of them at some earlier part of my life.  Time to dig down into the cranial depths of Louis Hurd...

I actually played with my roommate Nick Krull (Marshall, WI) in 5th grade on the Randolph Boys Club AAU team.  We were teammates for about 5 or 6 years.  I've known Nick for longer than anyone else on the squad.

I remember playing against Kevin Flynn (Middleton, WI)  in AAU ball in grade school.  Kevin is a twin and we would always have trouble guarding the Flynn Twin Snipers (Kevin and Patrick).  We had some great ball games against each other early on.

Milwaukee King is usually a common site down at the state tournament and I do remember watching Khalif El-Amin and Jared Jenkins (Milwaukee, WI) lead the Generals down at the Kohl Center at different times in high school.

Not only did I watch King play down there but also watched Bryan Beamish and Vinny Ritchay (Wis. Rapids, WI) reach the semifinals and play current Marquette star Wesely Matthews, who was then a Madison Memorial Spartan.  I also played against Vinny in the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Summer Camp in 2006.  Matt Moses (Fon Du Lac, WI) was also at the camp.

Mike "Fred McGriff" Griffin (Iola, WI) was big on the AAU scene and I say him play in a couple summer tournaments in high school.

Jerome Wotachek (Mishicot, WI) played in the state tournament in division 3 and I saw big Romer down in Madison as well.

The last guy I saw play was Pete Rortvedt (Minoqua, WI).  He was playing down in Madison at the WBCA All-Star game for divison 2.  He was on the team with my Portage teammate Daniel Harkins, who now suits up for the University of North Dakota.  I went down to watch Daniel and got my first glimpse of the Pete Rortvedt jumper.  Petey was raining just as many 3's as he is now.

It's fun to look back on all your memories and remember the great games and times you had with your friends and teammates.  I saw a lot of good basketball from a lot of different players.  I would've never guessed that I would be playing with those guys with whom I watched and played against as a younger man.  It's really neat that our squad are all Wisconsinites and are playing in front of our families just about every game.  To all be from one general area is pretty special. 

Never would've thought I'd be playing with these guys...You never know where your path may lead you!

Until next time...God Bless and Go Pointers!

Hi to all,

Sorry to everyone for my prolonged abscence.  She's been nothin' but basketball up here in Stevens Point for the last few weeks.  Let me take you through our most recent roadtrip-3 WIAC games on the road.  That's 120 minutes of constant road basketball...but in our case we needed 130!

After a poor showing on our home court against Carroll University, we said we needed to regroup.  We knew we had three big games coming up in our league that could propel us on our way to a conference championship.  First comes UW-Oshkosh on Saturday the 3rd...

Having a Saturday game means traveling with the womens' team.  We play back to back games in the afternoon, ours being the first.  This will continue throughout conference play.  We knew Oshkosh was a good home team and we would have to play very well to beat them on their court.  We did just that as beat the Titans 74-65 in a neck and neck game.  We finally managed to pull away in the second half.  40 minutes down!

Our second of three road jaunts was against the Falcons of UW-River Falls.  That's a nice three hour ride!  After our team meal stop at the Country Kitchen in Cadott, WI, we made the rest of the journey to the gym.  The Falcons would not come quietly as we had to pull out a road victory in overtime.  I think I can vouch for everyone in saying that our defense wasn't up to par by our standards.  I give River Falls credit for a great battle down the stretch.  It was a great game, but someone had to win.  Glad it was us!  This time it took 45!

The last of the three was the most intense by far.  We had to travel to UW-Platteville, the #4 ranked team in the nation.  It was another weekend game, so the women were along for the ride.  The gym was pretty packed for the #4 vs. #6 showdown, not to mention that the victor would have a leg up for the conference title.  A lot of chips were on the table.  Once again, the game was back and forth for the entire regulation.  Forty minutes would not be enough once more.  For those of you who haven't followed our season too closely, this would make for our 4th overtime game of the year.  We used that to our advantage.  Playing in close games can really make a team more poised, and I think we were.  Everyone had their moments in the game but I thought sophomore Nick Krull had an excellent showing.  He caught the Pioneers off guard and scored 9 points and dished out some key assists while coming off the bench.  Seniors Bryan Beamish and Jerome Wotachek both battled 6'10 Pioneer center Jeff Skemp the whole game, taking him out of his comfort zone.  What a game!  The final ended up being 73-66.  Yet another 45 minutes...but don't get the feeling that we like overtime!

I'm very proud of our team for taking three road wins in a row.  We set ourselves up for a great chance to accomplish our goal of winning the WIAC championship.

We finally get a home game for our fans! UW-Stout this Wednesday!  Come on over to Quandt Gym for some great Pointer action.

Hope your new year is going perfectly!

Merry Christmas Fans!

I found a little time out of my day to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you got what you wanted, shared laughs with your loved ones, and didn't get too fat with all the rich food that was laid out!

Now I have to get back to watching Christmas with John "the Duke" Wayne on AMC...

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night!!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Now that Finals week is over and done with, I can get back to sharing my thoughts on our Pointer journey.  Now I believe we were at Elmhurst...

We ended up traveling down the night before because of the horrible weather.  We practiced late that Friday night at 7:30.  It was a late night for the Pointers as we ended up having dinner after practice along with a film session.  Didn't get into our pj's until after 11 pm.

The morning came quickly and Game Day was upon us.  Elmhurst had Alumni Day so a lot of their past players were there to watch, so that was a extra reason for us to be on our toes.  It was a rough and tumble game like we've had before.  We jumped out to a 25-8 lead thanks to excellent shooting.  Then the flames went out completely as we were held scoreless for the last 6 or 7 minutes of the first half.

It was back and forth during the whole second half but we finally managed to pull away.  Props go out to senior point guard Khalif El-Amin, who ended the game with 25 points.  Known as the "Lil Fella," Khalif hit 5 trey's in the game, dished out 5 assists and snagged 3 boards.

The one unfortunate mishap of the game was that Matt Moses missed a one-and-one from the foul line, ending his school record streak of 35 consecutive free throws made.  I know you're not happy Mo, but it was a great run!   

That ended our non-conference road trips.  We ended up going 4-1.  Winning on the road is huge for any team and we got ourselves off to a great start.

Last night we played Edgewood College of the Northern Athletics Conference.  The Eagles traveled on treacherous roads to get up to Quandt Gym.  We knew we were going to get their best effort.

We had a very good offensive night, putting up our second highest point total of the year as we won 93-63.  Jared Jenkins led the way with 16.

I was blessed to be back in the lineup tonight for the first time this season.  My foot was finally feeling pretty good.  I want to take this time to thank my teammates, coaches, family and our fans for all their prayers and support.  They've made my time off as pleasant as possible.  Now I'll repay them by playing good basketball.

Sitting in Adam Spoehr's apartment right now.  He's our student assistant this year and he's been willing to let my teammate Kevin Flynn and I stay with him over winter break.  The dorms are shut down for the month so we have to stay with our teammates and such.  It's a great time to bond.  Lots of video games!

Christmas is less than a week away!  If you haven't gotten that shopping done there are a few last-minute sales left.  Just remember to keep those gift receipts!  The Pointers will be headed home on the 23rd for a few days off to be with our family and friends.  No game until the 30th.  It's a nice little break for all of us.

Be careful on the icy roads!  (If you live up here in the Northwoods)

Hello everyone,

Due to technical difficulties on the NCAA website my post on December 3^rd was erased.  I, not being prepared, didn't have the entry backed up on my computer, so it will be lost forever.  Hopefully the majority of you got to read it.

What a week it's been for the Pointers!  We are starting to send a message to the rest of the nation as to how good we can really be.  We got off to a great start in the WIAC by upsetting nationally ranked UW-Whitewater and beating UW-Lacrosse at home.

After a disappointing loss at Lawrence on the 3^rd we rallied back against UW-Whitewater.  Not only are they the #2 team in the country, but they are picked to win the WIAC.  We felt we needed to get a jump on everyone else, and we did just that, upsetting the Warhawks 67-64 in overtime.  Our backs were up against the wall as sharpshooting senior Pete Rortvedt was out with a concussion.  I couldn't go as well as I was still battling the stress fracture.  To make matters worse Bryan "Beam Team" Beamish went down in the first half with an MCL sprain.  But boy did our bench step up!  Sophomores Jared Jenkins, Nick Krull, and Vinny Ritchay put in some big minutes and made some nice plays down the stretch.  Jared tied up the game with a lay-up to put it into OT, making the score 59-59.

We never looked back...

Matt Moses started out the extra five minutes with five unanswered points.  Whitewater crept back in it, though, knotting the score at 64-64.  Bryan came back to hit two free throws, hobbling and all to put us up 66-64.  Jared sealed the deal with another charity point to make the final 67-64.

You should've seen our locker room!  Hugs were abounding everyone.  Smiles were beaming across everyone's faces.  Though he probably wouldn't want me telling you, but our coach Bob Semling was brought to tears after the game.  Tears of joy and pride.  He puts his heart and soul into Pointer Basketball, and I don't think he has ever been more proud of a group of guys.

This game has been one of the gutsiest performances I have ever seen out of my teammates.  I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it, and I'm glad our fans were able to see a heck of a game!

Back to reality...

Monday's practice was TOUGH to say the least.  I think Coach Sem feared a let down game might be imminent, so he pushed us pretty hard.  It was one of the hardest practices of the year by far.

The Eagles of LaCrosse came to town on Wednesday night.  It was a back and forth game.  We finally cracked them midway through the second half, finally pulling away with a final of 82-69.  Jared Jenkins and Evan Sweeney were big off the bench, scoring 17 points each.

Have to get going here...finals week.  What a drag!  I will have the recap of the Elmhurst game in a couple days in between tests and studying.

I have to give a quick shout out to Matt Moses.  Matty was WIAC Player of the Week for Nov. 30-Dec. 6.  During the week he amassed 41 points and 15 rebounds.

Until next time...God Bless and Go Pointers!