La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 74-67 to UW-Platteville Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles drop to 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pioneers improve to 18-3 overall and 9-2 in the conference. UW-Platteville is ranked 20th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll.
UWL led 6-4 with 18:07 left in the first half on a
Ben Meinholz layup, but UW-Platteville used an 8-0 run to lead 12-6 with 16:39 left on a Clay Gerds' three-point field goal.
Tanner Bruchs' layup with 12:43 remaining for UWL later cut the lead to 18-13 when UW-Platteville went on a 9-2 run to lead 27-15. The Pioneers took their largest lead of the game, 37-20 with 5:38 remaining in the first half, after a Quentin Schields layup. UWL ended the half on a 17-6 run to cut it to 43-37.
Taulvish McCray had a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:31.
UW-Platteville led throughout the second half, including 63-52, with 8:30 left on a Matt Oestreich jumper. UWL responded with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 63-59 with 6:35 left on a McCray three-point field goal. The Eagles trailed 65-61 with 5:55 left on a
Brendon Manning layup, but the Pioneers scored the next four points on a Robert Duax free throw and Carter Voelker three-point play. UWL trailed 69-65 with :49 remaining on a Meinholz layup before Duax hit a three-point field goal on the following possession to make it 72-65.
UWL shot 43.3% from the field, including 33.3% (seven-of-21) from three-point range, and 72.7% (eight-of-11) at the line. Meinholz led the Eagles with 14 points, four assists and three steals while Manning and
Sam Skoyen each had 10 points. Manning also had a team-high seven rebounds.
UW-Platteville shot 51.9% from the field, including 50.0% (eight-of-16) from three-point range, and 66.7% (12-of-18) at the free throw line. Voelker led five players in double figures for the Pioneers with 18 points. Duax finished with 16 points while Oestreich, Gerds and Schields each finished with 11. Gerds recorded a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, February 7 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m.
