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In Iowa-Grant coach Toby Tripalin's preseason questionnaire he picked Mineral Point as a team that has the goods to challenge for the SWAL title.
"They are quick and spread the floor making defending them a challenge," he said.
The Pointers showed just how much of the floor they like to use Friday when they opened the game with four first quarter three pointers and forced the Panthers to chase them the rest of the night. While Tripalin's squad did a good job of that, the Pointers got the win, 54-44 in the SWAL opener for both teams.
Sy Staver nailed a pair of first quarter threes while Turner Poad and Trevor Wendhausen both hit one. That helped get the score to an eight point advantage at 18-10 and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Wendhausen led all scorers with 17 points while Staver chipped in 13 and Turner Poad 10.
After the Pointers rolled to a 32-18 halftime lead the Panthers regrouped and made a run for it in the third frame. Sophomore Brayden Johnson fired in a couple long range threes and Colin Conner used his 6-6, 300 pound frame to put in a couple short shots and a free throw as the Panthers cut the lead to nine with a 17-12 quarter. After three they trailed 44-35.
The Pointers were the recipients of some chasing fouls the last quarter and spent enough time at the line to hit seven of 14 free throws and get a three from Wendhausen to outscore the Panthers 10-9 and pick up the win.
Johnson and Conner both ended up with 10 points for the Panthers.
'It was a good win to start the conference season against a quality opponent," said Pointer coach Dan Burreson. "We did some things pretty well and as to be expected this time of the year there are things we need to improve upon."
He said several Pointers had a hand in the win.
"The great thing about this squad is that we get a number of different players contributing in all phases of the game both offensively and defensively," Burreson said. "Trevor, Sy and Turner got us going offensively and we got big minutes off of the bench from Tarek Oellerich. Chanler, Sy, Alec and Trevor did a good job on the boards."
He added that Poad and Wendhausen had strong defensive efforts, calling them "tenacious."
Iowa-Grant coach Toby Tripalin said the shaky start cost the Panthers.
"We started a little sluggish in the first half and then really started playing better basketball in the second half," he said. "If we can put two halves of the type of basketball we are capable of together we will be dangerous."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP 18 14 12 10 54
IG 10 8 17 8 44
BOX SCORE
MINERAL POINT 54: (fg-ft-tp)
Staver 4-3-13, Gorgen 0-0-0, Oellerich 1-1-3, Poad 3-2-10, Schmitz 2-2-7, Wendhausen 6-3-17, Leonard 1-2-4 Totals 17-12/22-54 Fouls-12
IOWA-GRANT 44: Johnson 4-0-10, Wunderlin 0-0-0, I. Anderson 2-0-4, Milliken 2-2-6, Wienkes 2-1-5, TJ Anderson 3-1-7, Conner 4-2-10, Thomas 0-0-0 Totals 18-6/14-44 Fouls-19
3 point goals:
MP-Staver 2, Poad 2, Schmitz 1, Wendhausen 3
IG-Johnson 2