UW-Platteville Rallies to Defeat Cornell, 70-59

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team posted a 70-59 win over host Cornell College on Tuesday night at the Multi-Sport Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

The Pioneers (3-1) were held to 25% shooting in the first half and came back to shoot 50% in the second half to rally from a nine-point halftime deficit for the win.  The Rams (1-3) shot 45% in the first half and 34.5% in the second half in the loss.

In addition to shooting better from the field in the second half to complete the come-from-behind win, the Pioneers for the game made 23 of 26 free throws for 88.5% and outrebounded the Rams, 36 to 35.

Senior Brett Stangel led UW-Platteville with 16 points, junior Rob Stallion and senior Matt Weik added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Rams were led by guards Reggie Greenwood and Alex Miller, who accounted for 35 of the 59 points, with 18 and 17 points, respectively.

After taking a nine-point lead into the halftime break, despite having only one timeout, the Pioneers scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to cut the deficit to two, 37-35, with 16:16 to play.

The contest remained close and would eventually be tied on three occasions until a 3-point play by Stallion single-handedly sparked a 7-0 spurt that put the Pioneers up 54-49 with 7:07 to go.

The Pioneers eventually stretched the lead to double digits with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to complete the come-from-behind win. In the run, Weik contributed five points to lead UW-Platteville.

Next, UW-Platteville will host the UW-Platteville Thanksgiving Classic where they will host Finlandia on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. and Wisconsin Lutheran on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. at Bo Ryan Court.