Pioneers defeat Kohawks, 72-57

PLATTEVILLE -- The UW-Platteville men's basketball team improved to 4-2 on the young season with a 72-57 non-conference victory over visiting Coe College Sunday afternoon.

Junior forward Cory Vaassen (Cuba City, Wis.) scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Pioneers to victory.

Sophomore point guard Matt Oestreich (Marshfield, Wis.) added a season-high 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.  Sophomore Trey Sigel (Rock Island, Ill.) chipped in 11 points and three assists, while senior guard Boston Johnson (Oshkosh, Wis.) also reached double figures in scoring with 10 points.

Junior Marshall Shedeck led the Kohawks (2-2) with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Vaassen's three-pointer from the corner late in the first half and freshman Colin Connelly's (Guttenberg, Iowa) layup with 11 seconds on the clock closed a back-and-forth first 20 minutes of play with the host Pioneers leading 35-31 at the intermission.

A three-pointer by Johnson and a layup by Vaassen gave the Pioneers a 44-39 lead with 14:47 left in the game.

A pair of free throws by Shedeck pulled Coe within three at 49-46 at the 10:20 mark of the second half, but the Pioneers went on a 15-5 run over the next six minutes to take a commanding lead. A step-back jumper by Oestreich with 5:47 left in the game made it 64-52.

Matt Vonderhaar's layup with 5:26 left stopped the bleeding for Coe, but 10 points was as close as the visiting Kohawks would get the rest of the game.

Johnson converted a slashing three-point play with 2:30 remaining to extend the lead to 13, then the 6'4" guard hit a jumper from the wing to make it 70-54 with 1:54 left in the game.

Oestreich's layup on the ensuing UWP possession gave the home team its largest lead of the game at 72–54.

Coach Jeff Gard's Pioneers return to action Thursday when they host North Central College (Ill.) at 7 p.m. The Cardinals are coming off a 95-92 loss to Aurora University (Ill.) on Saturday.

Written by: Jason Nihles, Sports Information Assistant