The UW-Eau Claire men’s basketball team took down UW-Stevens Point Wednesday night 72-53 at Zorn Arena.

The win gave Eau Claire the season sweep with Stevens Point, who before the loss was ranked 17th in the nation.

The Blugolds had three players score in double figures, led by freshman Jason Larson, who had a career-high 28. Larson went eight of 12 from the field, including two of four from three-point range. He was also a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line.

“We were only down one at the half and we knew that we had already taken their biggest punch,” Larson said. “A lot of my scoring situations were due to the shot clock running down. I took advantage of the opportunity to score.”

The first half was tight from the beginning with no team gaining a big lead. The Pointers shot well from the field in the first half, including five of nine from three-point range.

“We thought that Stevens Point had shot as well as they could in the first half,” coach Terry Gibbons said. “I thought our kids did a good job keeping the intensity up the entire game.”

The Pointers missed their first 12 shots of the second half, which fueled Eau Claire to go on a 13-0 run to lead, 45-33. The ‘Golds stretched their lead to 22, to go up 66-44 at the four minute, 30 second mark.

Senior Sherm Carstensen scored 13 points on five of 13 shooting and grabbed eight boards for the ‘Golds. Senior Todd Marks snatched a team-high 15 rebounds in his 35 minutes on the court. Junior point guard Matt Fermanich chipped in eight points and had zero turnovers to his five assists. Sophomore Andy Witte shot seven of eight from the floor for 14 points.

“They were really shooting the lights out in the first half,” Witte said. “We kept our intensity level up the whole game. We were ready to get it done. There’s definitely a sense of urgency among our team as we hope to continue our run.”

Eau Claire hasn’t lost to Stevens Point at home since Dec. 9, 1994. The Blugolds also won all eight of its WIAC games played on Wednesday.

The win improves the Blugold’s record to 14-7, 8-5 in the WIAC. They host UW-River Falls Saturday in Zorn Arena for senior night.