STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- UW-Stevens Point, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III, rolled to a 79-49 non-conference men’s basketball victory over Edgewood College on Thursday at the Quandt Fieldhouse.

The defending national champions held Edgewood without a field goal for the first 12:05 of the contest as the Eagles missed their first 13 shot attempts. UW-Stevens Point opened up a 16-2 lead while cruising to its 43rd straight regular season non-conference victory. The win improved the Pointers to 15-1 overall, while Edgewood's record now stands at 10-7.

The Eagles, who are the last non-conference opponent to beat the Pointers on Dec. 29, 1999, shot just 27.3 percent against the nation’s top scoring defense. In fact, Edgewood was just 17.4 percent (four-for-23) in the first half as the Pointers built a 37-19 halftime lead. It was the fourth straight game that UW-Stevens Point has held its opponent under 50 points.

Edgewood hung in the game by getting to the foul line 27 times, compared to just eight times for the Pointers. Junior forward Seth Cooper* (Madison, Wis.) was 11-for-14 from the line and led all scorers with 22 points.

UW-Stevens Point shot 61.4 percent for the game, but was just four-for-16 from three-point range, despite entering the game as the nation’s sixth-best shooting team from behind the arc. The Pointers got 16 points apiece from Jason Kalsow and Nick Bennett.

The Eagles crawled to within 17 points at 57-40 with 10:07 left, but Bennett hit a layup and a three-pointer on the Pointers’ next two possessions to build the lead back to 22 points.

Edgewood will get back into conference action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when its hosts Lake Michigan Conference rival Wisconsin Lutheran College. The Warriors (8-8, 5-0 LMC) are currently in first place in the LMC. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at the Todd Wehr Edgedome in Madison.