Box Score Platteville, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team picked up a 79-71 victory over UW-Platteville Saturday night at Bo Ryan Court. The Eagles improve to 12-7 on the season and 6-2 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play while the Pioneers fall to 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the WIAC.
UWL started the game on a 10-2 run capped by an
Austin Fritz three-point play with 14:10 remaining in the half. A
Brendon Manning layup put the Eagles up 12 at the 10:38 mark at 18-6, and later, back to back three pointers by
Devin Yurk and
Jared Staege gave UWL a 15-point margin at 26-11 with 8:00 left. Another three from
Kenny Finco with 1:17 remaining gave UWL its biggest lead of the night at 43-20 going into halftime.
The Pioneers chipped away at the UWL lead in the early going of the second half, and finally cut it to single digits at the 10:01 mark after a Matt Oestreich layup made it 53-45. After a
Sean Wheeler three-point play extended the lead to 61-50 with 6:24 left, UW-Platteville went on an 11-2 run and it was 63-61 with 3:13 remaining in the game. Five straight points from Staege put the lead back to seven at 68-61, and after a pair of Pioneer free throws, a Yurk three made it 71-63 with 1:53 left. UWL hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minutes and held on for the win.
UWL shot 47.1% (24-of-51) from the field, were 45.0% (nine-of-20) from three point range, and 84.6% (22-of-26) from the free throw line. Staege led all scorers with 21 on six-of-ten shooting, including four-of-six from distance, and five-of-six from the line. He tied for the team lead in rebounds (six) and assists (three). Yurk and
Ben Meinholz had six boards apiece, while Meinholz and
Ryan Kruser added three assists.
UW-Platteville shot 34.8% from the floor, including 32.3% (10-of-31) from three-point range and 93.8% (15-of-16) at the line. Boston Johnson scored 17, had nine boards, and six assists to lead the Pioneers. Cory Vaassen added 14 points and ten rebounds, and Colin Connelly pitched in eleven points.
UW-L returns to action Wednesday, February 3 hosting UW-Stout at 7 p.m.
