Manor named WIAC Player of the Week after snapping UWSP 29-game run

• Shane Manor

Shane Manor played critical roles last week in two games and has been named the WIAC Player of the Week according to league Sports Information Director, Matt Stanek. UW-RF photo archive.

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The UW-River Falls men’s basketball team bounced back from a last-second loss at UW-Superior last Wednesday night to defeat No. 11 UW-Stevens Point, 82-75, in overtime Saturday in Stevens Point. The win gave the Falcons a regular season sweep of the Pointers and snapped UWSP’s 29-game home winning streak.

UWRF and UWSP are now tied for second place in the WIAC at 7-2, one game behind fifth-ranked UW-Whitewater (8-1). The Falcons, 13-5 overall visit UW-Stout (1-8, 6-12) Wednesday, Jan. 25 before returning home to host UW-Platteville (4-5, 10-8) this Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5 p.m.

Last Saturday in Stevens Point, UWRF’s Ollie White tied the game at 68-68 with 34 seconds left, but the Pointers were unable to get a shot off, turning the ball over in the final seconds. UWRF had an opportunity for a last-second shot, but Shane Manor’s three-pointer fell short sending the game into overtime.

Overtime was all in favor of UWRF as it outscored UWSP 14-7, converting 10-of-13 free throws for an 82-75 victory.

Stevens Point jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but the Falcons went on a 14-2 run, capped off by a Taylor Peterson jumper, to take a 14-8 lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the half.

UWSP quickly erased the deficit with a 20-6 run and with 4:25 remaining in the first half held a 28-20 advantage. UWRF was able to close the gap to three, 28-25, heading into the break.

The second half was much tighter as the score was tied nine times and the lead changed eight. Neither team was able to gain more than a six point advantage throughout the half. A pair of free throws by Manor to start the overtime gave UWRF the lead for good.

Free throws were key as UWRF converted on 28-of-23 attempts compared to 17-of-22 for Stevens Point.

Manor led all scorers with 26 points to go along with nine rebounds. As a team, the Falcons outrebounded UWSP 36-34. 

Wade Guerin contributed 13 points and eight rebounds in the victory while Brian Kimble finished with 12 points.

Last Wednesday at Superior, Manor posted a career-high 31 points but it wasn’t enough as Superior’s Ben Aalf’s hit an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Yellowjackets an 85-82 victory over the Falcons.

Superior (5-4, 11-7) led 43-41 at the break and scored the first five points of the second half to open up a 48-41 lead. The Yellowjackets continued to maintain their advantage for most of the second half, holding their edge between five and eight points before taking their largest lead of the night, 81-73, with 1:43 left.

The Falcons responded down the stretch, outscoring the Yellowjackets 9-1 over the next 1:38 behind eight more points from Manor and a free throw from Guerin to even matters at 82-82 with 4.8 seconds left. But Aalf took an inbounds pass, weaved his way through the UWRF defense and knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired.

White finished with 19 points for UWRF and Guerin had 12 points and six rebounds while Kimble finished with 10 points and five boards.

Tags: uw river falls, sports, proam, falcons