La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 64-41 to UW-Platteville Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The loss drops the Eagles, ranked 10th in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play. The win moves the Pioneers to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the WIAC. 

The Pioneers opened the game on a 15-2 run and led 15-5 at the first media timeout with 15:17 remaining in the first half. The Eagles would cut their deficit to 15-11 with 12:31 on the clock on Tanner Resch' layup. After UWL pulled with n 20-17, UW-Platteville scored the next seven points to lead 27-17 on Logan Pearson's three-point field goal. Four free throws for Austin Westra pulled UWL to 29-21 but Pearson's three-pointer gave UW-Platteville 32-21 lead at halftime. Pearson led the Pioneers with 18 points in the first half while Westra led the Eagles with eight points. 
 

In the first half, UW-Platteville shot 48.1% (13-of-27) from the floor while UWL shot 30.4% (seven-of-23). The Pioneers had a 22-9 advantage on the boards.

The Pioneers went on a 12-3 run to start the second half to lead 44-24 with 13:42 remaining in the game. A jumper by Jake Gross pulled the Eagles to within 46-29 with 11:33 left, but UWL could get no closer the rest of the game.

UWL shot 29.2% (14-for-48) from the floor, including 14.3% (three-of-21) from three-point range. The Eagles shot 71.4% (10-of-14) at the free throw line. Westra led the Eagles with 10 points and nine rebounds. Ethan Anderson added six points while Gross finished with five. 

UW-Platteville shot 43.3% (25-of-58) from the floor, including 34.6% (nine-of-26) from three-point range, and 71.4% (five-of-seven) at the line. Pearson led the Pioneers with 20 points while Julian Samuels added 14 and Brady Olson 10. UW-Platteville finished the contest with a 42-27 advantage in rebounding. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 7 at UW-Stevens Point. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Quandt Fieldhouse.