Mount Mercy hands Men's Hoops first loss

Mount Mercy handed the UW-Platteville men’s basketball team its first loss of the season, 80-71, on Bo Ryan Court on Saturday.

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Mount Mercy hands Men's Hoops first loss
November 22, 2014

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- Mount Mercy handed the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team its first loss of the season, 80-71, on Bo Ryan Court on Saturday. 

Senior Jim Stocki led the Pioneers (3-1) with 15 points, while classmate Jake Manning add 13 points off the bench. Trevor Wittwer contributed 12 points off the bench as well. 

The Mustangs' (6-2) Dondre Osborne led all scorers with 26 points, as James Boonstoppel gave MMU a spark off the bench with 18. 

The Pioneers managed to take their largest lead of the game, 13-8, at the 13:31 mark. Boonstoppel came into the game and sparked the MMU offense by scoring 13 of the next 17 points and gave the Mustangs a 25-18 lead with 9:20 left in the opening half. MMU took its largest lead of the half, 42-28, with just over three-minute till the half.  Stocki went on to score the Pioneers' next eight points, cutting MMU's lead back to single digits, 45-36. 

The Mustangs finished the half shooting almost 60 percent from the floor (16-27) and made 70 percent (7-10) of their three-pointers to take an eight-point advantage into the half, 47-39. 

Mount Mercy held its lead to at least two possessions for over 17 minutes in the second half, until Manning drilled a three-pointer, making it a three-point game, 70-67, with 2:34 left in the game. 

On MMU's ensuing possession, Alex Houston missed a one-and-one opportunity, but a costly Pioneer turnover and steal by Osborne pushed the Mustangs' lead back to two possessions. Mount Mercy went on to hold on for a 80-71 victory. 

The Pioneers continue their six-game home stand on Tuesday as they host Carthage at 8 p.m.