Men's basketball falls to No. 1 Warhawks, 65-64

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Student Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- With all the makings of a top-10 basketball game, it was the defending national champion Warhawks of UW-Whitewater who left Bo Ryan Court with the taste of victory after a hard fought 65-64 victory over the Universtiy of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team, Wednesday night.

The Pioneers' senior forward Jim Stocki started the night off with a 3-point basket and for the rest of the first half, it appeared Coach Jeff Gard gave Stocki the green light.

The senior from Bolingbrook, Ill. began the game with 10 of the Pioneers' first 14 points and ended the first half with 17, going 6-8 from the field and 3-5 from 3-point range.

The first half of play was pretty even for the Pioneers and Warhawks. At the 8:37 mark, it was freshman guard Trey Sigel who hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 20 and provide an opportunity to create some breathing room for the Pioneers.

But the defending champs capitalized off of an ensuing Pioneer turnover to make the game 22-20.

After a pair of free throws by senior forward Cory Vaassen with 35.9 seconds left, the Warhawks held on to it for the last shot, but a stingy Pioneer defense and an ecstatic crowd allowed the Pioneers to go into the locker room up 33-31.

Freshman guard Matt Oestreich was the first player on the board in the second half with a pair of free throws, 35-31.

A slow few minutes of basketball followed, allowing the Warhawks to take a one point lead, 37-36, with 15:40 left to play. 

It was Vaassen again who brought the Pioneers up by one, but the Warhawks responded with a layup to regain the lead, 39-38.

Another Vassenn basket capped off a 7-0 run and brought the Pioneer lead to six, 45-39, with 11:57 left.

Vaassen finished with 14 points, 4-4 from the line and led the Pioneers with eight rebounds.

After trading baskets to tie the game at 49, it was senior forward Jake Manning who brought the Pioneers up by three, 52-49, with a well executed and-one play.

The Pioneers held the lead for several minutes, but a Warhawk three, by senior guard Quardell Young finally tied the game up at 58 with under four minutes remaining.

With 30 seconds left, Manning went up for a Warhawk miss and was fouled coming down, sending him to the free-throw line. Manning hit both giving the Pioneers a one-point lead, 64-63. 

It was the Warhawks' Young coming in clutch yet again with a hard earned layup to put the Warhawks back up, 65-64 and an ensuing failed three-point attempt by the Pioneers brought the No. 1 ranked Warhawks the victory. 

Young led all scorers with 26, going 9-15 from the field, 5-8 from three-point range and hit the game winning layup with eight seconds left.

Stocki led the Pioneers with 19 points, 17 coming in the first half, while junior guard Boston Johnson led all players with 6 assists.

The Pioneers next game is against UW-Superior on Jan. 31 at Bo Ryan Court.