STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Senior Clayton Heuer scored 24 points and collected 12 rebounds, both career bests, as Wisconsin-Stevens Point advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament with a 76-71 victory against the Dutch of Central (Iowa).
UW-Stevens Point will play Emory in the third round.
The Pointers overcame a 24 of 67 (35.8 percent) shooting performance on the evening thanks in part to a season-high 19 offensive rebounds which aided in 22 second-chance points.
Trailing by two, 13-11, with 13:55 remaining in the first half, the Pointers used a 15-2 run to pull in front by 11, their largest lead of the opening half.
Central responded with a 16-4 run to tie the game at 31 with 3:51 to go, but Tyler Tillema, Steven Pelkofer and Trevor Hass kept the Pointers in front at the break, 40-36.
In front by eight, 52-44 with 15:36 remaining, the Pointers went on a 14-4 run to build their largest lead of the night, 63-48.
Central responded with a 16-3 run of their own to cut the UWSP lead to just two, 66-64, with just more than six minutes remaining.
Hass and Ritchay responded with big 3-point baskets and clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch kept the Pointers in front for the five-point victory, 76-71.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Pointers, who shot 30 3-pointers, the most in a game since a Nov. 2008 victory.
Hass chipped in 15 points while Ritchay added 11. Tillema and Austin Ryf each tallied 10. Pelkofer added six points off the bench in the win.
Matt Greenfield led the Dutch with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
