Big second half propels Pioneers

The UW-Platteville Men's Basketball started off the D3Hoops.com Classic by defeating the Edgewood College Eagles 80-57. The Pioneers improve to 6-4 on the season.

The Pioneers got off to a rough start from the field and that continued the rest of the first half. The Pioneers shot 38.7% compared to the Eagles 40.0%. The Pioneers shot an abysmal 22% from three in first half also. Your Pioneers still led 31-28 at the half.

In the second half it seemed like a completely different team was on the floor for the Pioneers. The Pioneers shot 58.6% from the floor while holding Edgewood to 34.6%. For the game the Pioneers shot 48.3% from the field and 47.8 from the three-point line. For Coach Jeff Gard it was all about communication and playing together as a team, "Tale of two halves as the first half we were not all on the same page offensively and defensively. Second half we played as a team defensively and moved the ball offensively and played well off each other."

Quentin Shields led the Pioneers offensively with 21 points on 7-13 shooting from the field. Kyle Tuma chipped in a new collegiate career high of 12 points on 4-5 shooting from the three-point line.

The Pioneers return to action on Friday night at the D3Hoops.com Classic at 6 P.M. against Johns Hopkins University.