The state of Wisconsin has another branch of the Bennett basketball family to celebrate after Wisconsin-Stevens Point's victory in the Division III Men's Basketball Championship March 19-20 in Salem, Virginia.

Junior Nick Bennett brushed off a knee injury in the semifinals to score 30 points in the Pointers' 84-82 title-game victory over defending champion Williams and bring home the first national title for the team and its coach -- his father Jack Bennett.

"It's just too hard to put into words how it feels to share it with players like this and your son," the coach said after the see-saw victory over the top-ranked team in Division III. "It doesn't get any better than this."

The Pointers, making only their third appearance in the Division III tournament, withstood a run by Williams that brought the Ephs back from an 11-point deficit to a 61-59 lead with 11:17 left, then traded baskets until Jason Kalsow hit a contested jumper over Ben Coffin with 0.2 seconds remaining to claim the win.

"I saw him in my face and knew I had to get it high, so I put it up and it went in," said Kalsow, who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds.

Bennett, who also scored 20 points in the Pointers' 87-62 semifinal victory over John Carroll but left that game with 6:33 left after slamming his right knee into the floor, was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

He and his father now join another branch of the Bennett family in Wisconsin basketball lore. Jack Bennett's brother, Dick Bennett, currently is head coach at Washington State and former head coach at Wisconsin, as well as father of a couple of other prominent figures in basketball circles -- Indiana women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett and former Wisconsin-Green Bay standout player Tony Bennett.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Williams combined to make 20 three-pointers in the game, including a 15-of-30 performance outside the arc by the Ephs. Williams tied a championship record set in 1995 by Rowan and matched by Nebraska Wesleyan in 1997.

Williams' Tucker Kain scored 23 points -- 18 on three-pointers -- and Chuck Abba added 20 as the Ephs dropped only their second game of the season and finished 30-2.

"I thought our guys played so hard and with so much courage and toughness," said Williams coach Dave Paulsen, who returned four starters from a team that won last year's championship game in a come-from-behind victory. "This was like a prize fight the way it went back and forth."

Williams advanced to the final with an 86-81 victory over New England Small College Athletic Conference rival Amherst, which handed the Ephs their only previous loss in mid-February.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point survived an overtime game against Lawrence in a sectional final in Tacoma, Washington, to advance to the semifinal game against John Carroll. The Pointers won their last nine games to finish 29-5.

The Pointers' Kalsow joined Bennett on the all-tournament team, along with Kain and a repeat selection from last year's team, Williams' Michael Crotty. Jerry Angel of John Carroll rounded out the squad.

The final in Salem's Civic Center drew a crowd of 2,374.

Sectionals

At Puget Sound -- Wis.-Stevens Point 100, Puget Sound 79; Lawrence 86, Sul Ross St. 79 (ot); Wis.-Stevens Point 82, Lawrence 81 (ot).

At Wooster -- John Carroll 76, Maryville (Tenn.) 74; Wooster 58, Ill. Wesleyan 53; John Carroll 70, Wooster 64.

At Williams -- Williams 78, Brockport St. 50; Keene St. 82, Rochester 79; Williams 79, Keene St. 64.

At Frank. & Marsh. -- Amherst 92, New Jersey City 74; Frank. & Marsh. 92, Gwynedd-Mercy 74; Amherst 82, Frank. & Marsh. 70.

Semifinals

Williams 86, Amherst 81

Williams: Michael Crotty 7-16, 4-4, 5, 21; Chuck Abba 5-10, 3-3, 5, 13; Ben Cofin 8-15, 4-6, 9, 20; Jaris Cole 5-12, 2-2, 5, 13; Tucker Kain 3-9, 1-2, 7, 9; Casey Gibbons 0-3, 0-0, 1, 0; Michael Graham 4-5, 2-3, 2, 10; Will Kuntz 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Andrew Newton 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0. TOTALS: 32-71, 16-20, 40 (3 team), 86.

Amherst: Adam Harper 9-15, 5-5, 7, 26; John Donovan 3-10, 4-6, 2, 12; Ray Corrigan 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2; Tim Jones 2-5, 1-2, 3, 5; Andrew Schiel 2-7, 1-2, 4, 6; Russell Lee 7-9, 0-0, 3, 16; John Bedford 5-9, 4-4, 2, 14; Tim McLaughlin 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 29-58, 15-19, 34 (12 team), 81.

Halftime: Williams 43, Amherst 39. Three-point field goals: Williams 6-19 (Crotty 3-8, Abba 0-4, Cole 1-2, Kain 2-3, Gibbons 0-2); Amherst 8-17 (Harper 3-5, Donovan 2-5, Schiel 1-4, Lee 2-3). Officials: Jim Demats, Brian Spangler, Tom VanSossen. Attendance: 2,105.

Wis.-Stevens Point 87, John Carroll 62

Wis.-Stevens Point: Tamaris Relerford 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Nick Bennett 6-12, 4-4, 1, 20; Jon Krull 10-14, 4-5, 8, 25; Jason Kalsow 6-11, 2-2, 15, 16; Eric Maus 3-4, 4-4, 4, 10; Eddie Zirbel 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Neal Krajnik 2-2, 0-0, 2, 5; Brett Hirsch 0-0, 2-2, 1, 2; Keven Bradley 0-0, 2-2, 0, 2; Kyle Grusczynski 2-8, 1-2, 1, 2; Matt Bouche 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brian Bauer 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Mike Prey 0-0, 1-3, 1, 1; John Gleich 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS: 29-53, 20-24, 37 (2 team), 87.

John Carroll: Pete Moran 1-3, 1-2, 0, 3; Michael Grogan 1-8, 0-0, 5, 3; Jon Franks 2-2, 0-0, 2, 4; Andrew Salata 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0; Jerry Angel 7-14, 0-0, 2, 19; Matthew Moran 1-4, 0-0, 0, 3; Demetrius Travis 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mike Salopek 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Peter Koch 0-9, 2-2, 3, 2; Justin Ragor 1-1, 1-1, 0, 3; David Gibbons 7-16, 2-2, 7, 17; Chris Day 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Joe Kimener 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Daniel Budzar 1-2, 0-2, 5, 6; Brandon Mimes 3-3, 0-2, 5, 6. TOTALS: 24-64, 6-11, 31 (3 team), 62.

Halftime: Wis.-Stevens Point 42, John Carroll 24. Three-point field goals: Wis.-Stevens Points 9-16 (Bennett 4-7, Krull 1-1, Kalsow 2-3, Krajnik 1-1, Grusczynski 1-3, Bauer 0-1); John Carroll 8-25 (Grogan 1-5, Angel 5-10, Moran 1-3, Salopek 0-1, Koch 0-3, Gibbons 1-2, Budzar 0-1). Officials: Alan Libardori, Peter Palermino, Lamar Mitchell. Attendance: 2,120.

Third-place game

John Carroll 96, Amherst 85

Amherst: Adam Harper 6-16, 1-2, 4, 17; John Donovan 5-13, 8-10, 3, 21; Ray Corrigan 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2; Tim Jones 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Andrew Schiel 6-12, 0-1, 6, 15; Mike Salerno 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Russell Lee 6-11, 0-1, 3, 15; Tim McLaughlin 0-1, 3-6, 1, 3; Don Quinn 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Keith Zalaski 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Dan O'Shea 1-4, 1-1, 2, 3; Dan Wheeler 1-3, 0-0, 5, 2. TOTALS: 29-70, 13-21, 31 (3 team), 85.

John Carroll: Pete Moran 0-1, 5-6, 1, 5; Michael Grogan 5-10, 4-4, 7, 16; Jon Franks 1-2, 1-2, 2, 3; Andrew Salata 2-5, 1-2, 4, 5; Jerry Angel 9-13, 4-4, 4, 27; Matthew Moran 3-4, 1-2, 3, 8; Demetrius Travis 0-1, 0-0, 3, 0; Peter Koch 3-6, 2-2, 3, 9; Justin Ragor 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; David Gibbons 6-13, 0-0, 6, 13; Chris Day 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Joe Kimener 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brandon Mimes 2-5, 6-8, 11, 10. TOTALS: 31-61, 24-30, 48 (2 team), 96.

Halftime: John Carroll 50, Amherst 41. Three-point field goals: Amherst 14-36 (Harper 4-10, Donovan 3-8, Schiel 3-6, Lee 3-7, Bedford 1-3, McLaughlin 0-1, Wheeler 0-1); John Carroll 10-17 (Grogan 2-5, Angel 5-8, Moran 1-2, Koch 1-1, Gibbons 1-1). Disqualifications: Schiel. Officials: Jeff Benedict, David Elliott, Rob Strobl.

Championship game

Wis.-Stevens Point 84, Williams 82

Williams: Michael Crotty 5-9, 0-0, 7, 15; Chuck Abba 8-13, 1-1, 5, 21; Ben Coffin 5-13, 0-0, 6, 10; Jaris Cole 3-11, 0-0, 3, 6; Tucker Kain 7-15, 3-4, 8, 23; Casey Gibbons 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Andy Campbell 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Michael Graham 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Andrew Newton 2-3, 3-5, 2, 7. TOTALS: 30-64, 7-10, 35 (3 team), 82.

Wis.-Stevens Point: Tamaris Relerford 1-4, 1-2, 3, 4; Nick Bennett 12-19, 3-3, 5, 30; Jon Krull 3-7, 3-4, 4, 9; Jason Kalsow 11-23, 2-2, 9, 24; Eric Maus 3-6, 0-0, 9, 6; Neal Krajnik 3-4, 0-0, 0, 7; Keven Bradley 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Kyle Grusczynski 0-0, 2-2, 0, 2; Brian Bauer 0-1, 2-3, 0, 2; Mike Prey 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 33-64, 13-16, 34 (4 team), 84.

Halftime: Wis.-Stevens Point 38, Williams 33. Three-point field goals: Williams 15-30 (Crotty 5-9, Abba 4-7, Cole 0-1, Kain 6-13); Wis.-Stevens Point 5-12 (Relerford 1-3, Bennett 3-5, Krull 0-1, Kalsow 0-1, Krajnik 1-1, Bauer 0-1). Officials: Dennis Ashcraft, Haywood Bostic, Mike Forren. Attendance: 2,374.