Men's Basketball Cruises Past UW-Oshkosh, 86-48

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville tallied four players in double figures to cruise past UW-Oshkosh, 86-48, on Saturday night at Williams Fieldhouse on Bo Ryan Court.

Chas Cross, Jake Manning, Trevor Wittwer and Jim Stocki all scored in double-digits for the Pioneers (8-3, 3-1 WIAC) and were led by Cross with 15 points, who was a rebound away from his first double-double of the season. The trio of sophomores, Manning, Wittwer, and Stocki added 14, 12, and 10 points respectively.  Senior Rob Stallion and junior Eric Gerber drove the Pioneer offense by dishing out six assists apiece.

Jade Royston led the Titans (3-5, 1-2 WIAC) with 12 points, followed by Alex Olson with eight points.

UW-Platteville never gave the Titans a chance as the UW-Oshkosh never led in the contest and only tied with the Pioneers once at 3-3. An easy layup by Manning started the Pioneers' 14-4 run giving UW-Platteville a 17-7 lead with 12:25 left till the break. The Pioneers finished the final five minutes of the half with 12 unanswered points taking a 37-19 lead into halftime.

The Pioneers continued their run to start the second-half on a Manning three-pointer and a Cross layup giving UW-Platteville a 42-19 lead with just over a minute into the second-half. Cross scored six points in less than two minutes, expanding the Pioneers lead to 30 points, 61-31, with 11:18 to play. The Pioneers earned their largest lead of 41 points, 82-41, with just over three minutes left in the contest.  UW-Platteville shot over 62 percent from the floor and held the Titans under 40 percent in the second-half to earn the 86-48 victory.

The Pioneers will take next week off for final exams and will head to Southern California after the holiday for contests against La Verne on Dec. 28 and Colorado College on Dec. 29.