La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell, 74-47, to UW-Platteville Friday night in Mitchell Hall in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's). The Eagles, ranked 14th on d3hoops.com, finishes their season at 8-3 while the Pioneers, ranked 11th on d3hoops.com, ends their season at 8-2. 

It is UW-Platteville's third (1999, 2019, 2021) WIAC Tournament title and 22nd regular-season championship in school history.  

UWL was making its second appearance in the championship game after losing at UW-Stevens Point in 2007. 

The Eagles took a 15-14 lead with 12:31 remaining in the first half on a Henry Noone three-point field goal, but Quentin Shields' three-pointer and Justin Fox's layup gave the Pioneers a 19-15 lead. Wyatt Cook connected on a three-point basket for UWL to cut the lead to 19-18 with 7:16 left, but UW-Platteville went on a 15-2 run to end the half for a 34-20 lead. Shields hit a three-point field goal with :01 left in the half. 

UWL cut the lead to 40-30 with 17:24 remaining in the game, but could get no closer the rest of the game.  UW-Platteville used a 17-2 run to take a 57-32 lead with 9:31 remaining on another Shields' three-pointer. The Pioneers led by as many as 32 points in the second half. 

UWL shot 30.0% from the field, including 23.8% (five-of-21) from three-point range, and 54.5% (six-of-11) at the free throw line. The 30.0% shooting and 47 points are both season-lows.  Cook led the Eagles with 13 points while Ethan Anderson finished with 12 points and team-high eight rebounds.  Seth Anderson and Austin Westra each had six points. 

UW-Platteville shot 45.1% from the field, including 38.5% (10-of-26) from three-point range, and 72.0% (18-of-25) at the line. Justin Stovall led four Pioneers in double figures with 16 points while Kyle Tuma finished with 14 points and team-high nine rebounds and three steals. Shields totaled 13 points and Drew Gunnink 11.