Men's Hoops downs Falcons, 66-48

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team earned its first road victory of the season, beating conference foe UW-River Falls, 66-48, Saturday at the Karges Center. 

The Pioneers (6-2, 2-0 WIAC) were led by sophomore Boston Johnson, who went 8-for-10 from the field for 16 points and added a game-high eight rebounds. Seniors Chas Cross and Eric "Skip" Gerber each scored 12 points, while junior Jake Manning added 10.

The Falcons' Ollie White netted a game-high 18 points, as UWRF had no other scorer with more than eight points. 

The Pioneers dominated the paint as they out rebounded UWRF 37-25 and outscored the Falcons 44-26 in the paint. UW-Platteville's strong second-half proved to be the difference, shooting a stellar 64 percent (16-25) and held UWRF to under 35 percent (8-24). 

The Pioneers end the last 3:35 of the first half with a 7-0 run, taking a 29-24 advantage into halftime. 

UW-Platteville finally pulled away late in the second half, using a 16-2 run to go up 61-43 with just over three minutes to play. A pair of layups by Johnson in the final two minutes gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game of 22 points, 66-44. 

The Pioneers travel to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday with tip off set for 7 p.m.