Men's Basketball Defeats La Verne, 70-61

LA VERNE, Calif. – Junior Chas Cross went 9-11 from the floor to helping the University of Wisconsin Platteville defeat the University of La Verne, 70-61 on Friday afternoon in La Verne, Calif.

Cross added four blocks, seven rebounds and two assists to his 18 points. Sophomore Jim Stocki scored 13 points with four boards, while junior Eric Gerber added 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.

La Verne's Jake Vieth netted 18 points followed by Jourdan Simmonds with 12 points.

The Pioneers came out of the gates a little slow but received a spark off the bench from senior Marcus Jackson. Jackson helped the Pioneers take a 20-14 lead at the 11:20 mark after the game was all tied up at 9-9 just three minutes earlier. Jackson dished out a pair of assist during that stretch to drive the Pioneer offense. With the game at 26-24 with just under seven minutes left in the half, UW-Platteville went on a 14-2 run to take a 40-28 lead at halftime.

Gerber opened the second-half with a three-pointer and looked like the Pioneers were going to pull away, but the Leopards battled back to make it a game. ULV cut its deficit to eight points, 50-42, with 13:51 left and made it a two possession game, 56-50, with just under eight minutes to play. The Pioneers then went on to score nine unanswered, 65-50 to put the game out of reach with 4:29 left. La Verne nailed a pair of last minute three-pointers to finish out the contest 70-61.

The Pioneers (9-3) wrap up their California trip on Saturday when they face off with Colorado College at 7 p.m. (CST) at La Verne, Calif.