Pioneers Rout North Park, 71-53

A pre-game change of the net inside Williams Fieldhouse prior to tipoff set the tone for a hot shooting first half with a 53.6% clip by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men’s basketball team en route to a 71-53 win over North Park on Saturday night.

The Pioneers (2-1) built a 20-point halftime, 39-19, for its largest lead at the intermission since a Dec. 14, 2011 encounter against Cornell. Brett Stangel and Eric Gerber each scored 10 points to lead UW-Platteville in the first 20 minutes.

Stangel finished in double figures for the third-straight game with 13 points en route to being named as the most valuable player for the tournament. Teammate Rob Stallion joined him on the all-tournament team.

A pair of freshman – Jake Manning and Jim Stocki – scored in double figures for the first time in their careers scoring 17 and 10 points, respectively. Gerber was the fourth Pioneer in double figures with 10 points and he also handed out seven assists in the win. Also in the win for the Pioneers, senior B.J. Litz tied a career-high with 8 points and set a career-high with five rebounds in the win.

The Vikings (1-2) were able to lead two in double figures including Rashown Russell and Mark Holmes, who had 15 and 10 points, respectively. After building a 27-5 lead in the opening half, the Pioneers kept the advantage at double digits for the remainder of the contest.

The Pioneers will now take to the road for the first time on the season when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to face Cornell on Tuesday at 7 p.m.