Duax run leads Pioneers to 78–62 non-conference win over Lindsey Wilson College

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin–Platteville men's basketball team improved to 2–0 on the young season with a 78–62 non-conference victory over visiting Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) in the second game of the Gabe Miller Tip-Off Classic Friday night on Bo Ryan Court. 

UW–Platteville guards Robert Duax (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead), Trey Sigel (Rock Island, Ill.) and Matt Oestreich (Marshfield) combined for 53 points and seven 3-pointers to lead the sharp-shooting Pioneers to the 16-point victory. 

Duax scored the Pioneers' first nine points of the second-half to jump-start a 15–2 Platteville run that turned a 1-point halftime deficit into a 43–31 advantage. Duax scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and finished with a team-high six rebounds to lead the Pioneers.

Sigel added 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. Oestrich chipped in 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in a team-high 37 minutes.

Senior forward Cory Vaassen (Dickeyville/Cuba City) had a strong all-around game with seven points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The UW–Platteville lead ballooned to as many at 18 points late in the second half when junior transfer Jake Showalter (Germantown) converted a pair of free thows and Sigel scored two possessions later to make it 73­–55 with 2:21 left in the game.

Showalter finished with six points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes off the bench.

The Pioneers shot 47.2 percent (25-for-53) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from 3-point land. 

Guard Bryan Wallace had 16 points, three rebounds and two steals to lead the Blue Raiders in defeat.

UW–Platteville returns to action Saturday night against Colorado College at 7 p.m. in the final game of the Gabe Miller Tip-Off Classic at Bo Ryan Court in Williams Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. The Tigers (0–1) dropped a 90–71 decision against UW–Whitewater in Friday's opening game of the Tip-Off Classic.

By Jason Nihles, UW–Platteville Athletics