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!