Men's basketball cruises past UW-Stout, 61-42

MENOMONIE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball tallied four double-figure scorers en route to a, 61-42, thumping of UW-Stout on Saturday in Johnson Fieldhouse. 

The Pioneers' starting five scored 55 of the team's 61 points and were led by senior Chas Cross with 14. Cross went 5-for-6 from the field and added a game-high four steals on the defensive end. Senior Eric "Skip" Gerber and sophomore Boston Johnson netted 11 points apiece, while junior Jake Manning contributed 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Jim Stocki rounded out the Pioneers' top scorers with nine points. 

Alex Oman led the Blue Devils with 14 points and didn't have teammate score more than six points. 

UW-Platteville came out ready to play and never allowed hosts UW-Stout to lead. The Blue Devils managed to tie it up, 12-12, at the 11:29 mark, but a 11-0 run by the Pioneers gave UW-Platteville a 23-12 lead with just under seven minutes left in the half. The Pioneers held UW-Stout to just four points in the final seven minutes of half, taking a 27-16 lead into halftime. 

UW-Platteville limited the Blue Devils to just over 26 percent (6-23) shooting in the first half, while the Pioneers shot 55 percent (11-20). 

The Pioneers stretched their lead to 18 points midway through the second half with the help of two three-pointers by Johnson and one by Cross. Johnson made a pair of free throws with 2:17 left to play to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the day, 57-37. 

UW-Platteville improves to 10-4 and 5-0 in WIAC play while UW-Stout settles to 8-6 and 3-3 in league action. 

The Pioneers travel to 10th-ranked UW-Whitewater on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off.