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For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WAUWATOSA – The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield Marauders men’s basketball team advanced to the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference championship game after knocking off Bryant & Stratton JV in the semifinals 96-85 on Friday.
The Marauders will play Blackhawk Technical College of Janesville in the WCC title game Monday at Just-A-Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. The game begins at 6:15 p.m. and will be streamed live on the UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield Marauders Men’s Basketball Facebook page.
A slow start by the Marauders and a blazing start by the Bobcats led to an early double-digit deficit for the Marauders.
The Bobcats came out and knocked down four consecutive 3-pointers and paired that with some steals and fast break points to build a 24-11 lead in the first six minutes forcing a timeout. After the timeout, the Marauders were able to reset and use a strong inside game from Sam Everson (Menasha) to slowly start chipping away.
As the defense picked up and the Bobcats cooled off, the Marauders continued to use their elite passing to find open players under to basket for easy looks. Right as the Marauders got within six, the Bobcats made another run to increase their lead back up to 13, 36-23 with 6:13 to go in the half.
A huge offensive rebound and put back by Dylan Baker (Adams-Friendship) sparked the next Marauder run. Cy Becker (Marshfield Columbus) found his shooting stroke with a five-point spurt to get even closer. A strong finish to the half by the Marauders allowed them to go into the half even at 42-42.
Coming out of the half it was the Owen Hanson (Marshfield) show as he poured in bucket after bucket scoring the Marauders’ first 8 points of the second hal, capped off with a huge and-1 on a 3-pointer for a four-point play.
The Marauders were able to continue to find easy looks with the help of great passing from Tyler Linzmeier (Columbus Catholic) and Jake Skroch (Stratford), who continued to rack up the assists. As the game wore on the Marauders built their lead into double digits behind Hanson and Everson.
Skroch was able to seal the game from the free throw line as the Marauders closed out the Bobcats 96-85.
Hanson finished with 34 points and Everson followed that up with a season-high 31 points. Becker also had a season-high with 15 points, Skroch chipped in 12 points, Dominic Quednow (Rib Lake) and Dylan Baker added two points each and Brennen Peterson (Pittsville) rounded out the scoring with one point.