Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 63-62 at UW-Platteville Saturday night on Bo Ryan Court. The Eagles drop to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pioneers improve to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference. UW-Platteville is receiving votes on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll.

UWL raced out to an 8-2 lead after Tanner Bruchs and Taulvish McCray each hit three-point field goals and Brendon Manning made a layup. UW-Platteville cut the deficit to 13-9 with 15:01 left in the first half on a Alex Ranney layup, but Manning hit a pair of free throws and McCray another three-pointer for an 18-9 lead with 13:36 remaining. The Pioneers' Matt Oestreich made pair of free throws with 6:26 left to cut the Eagles' advantage to 20-18 before eight straight points gave UWL a 28-18 lead with 3:28 remaining. UWL led 32-26 at halftime.

The Eagles took a 40-31 lead with 16:57 left after Ben Meinholz' two free throws when the Pioneers went on an 11-0 run to take a 42-40 lead with 14:14 remaining on Oestreich's three-point field goal. UW-Platteville later led 52-52 with 8:34 left when Milton Cummings gave UWL a 54-52 lead with 7:24 remaining on a three-pointer. Carter Voelker's three-pointer and Clay Gerds two free throws gave UW-Platteville a 57-54 with 5:15 left, but UWL responded with two free throws from Bruchs, a Ben Meinholz jumper and a pair of Meinholz free throws for a 60-57 advantage with 3:33 remaining.

Gerds' dunk cut the lead to 60-59, but Meinholz' jumper with 1:17 left provided a 62-59 lead. UW-Platteville cut it back to a one-point game at 62-61 with :52 remaining on a Gerds' layup. After a UWL turnover, Oestreich hit the go-ahead jumper with :03 left to give UW-Platteville the one-point win. Meinholz missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

UWL shot 40.0% from the field, including 33.3% (seven-of-21) from three-point range. The Eagles hit all 11 of their free throw attempts after going 15-of-36 (41.7%) in their previous two games.

McCray led four players in double figures with 11 points while Bruchs, Manning and Meinholz each finished with 10. Terek Nesheim totaled nine points. Manning had a game-high seven rebounds while Meinholz finished with a game-high seven steals. The seven steals are tied for fourth in single-game school history. Bob Zenz (December 13, 1986), Willie Arnold (November 20, 1987) and Al Cherry (January 22, 2011) had a school record eight steals.

UW-Platteville shot 48.0% from the field, including 54.5% (six-of-11) from three-point range, and 75.0% (nine-of-12) at the line. Oestreich led four Pioneers in double figures with 15 points while Gerds finished with 14, Voelker with 11 and Ranney with 10. Gerds had a team-high six rebounds.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 17 hosting seventh-ranked UW-River Falls at 7 p.m.