No. 4 UW-Whitewater Defeats UW-Platteville, 77-58

Following the fifth score tie, No. 4 UW-Whitewater scored the final six points of the first half en route to a 77-58 win over host UW-Platteville on Wednesday night at Bo Ryan Court.

The Pioneers (12-11, 6-8 WIAC) were led by sophomore Chas Cross, who had 16 points, five rebounds and three steals to pace UW-Platteville. Joining him in double digits was senior B.J. Litz with 11 and freshman Jake Manning and senior Brett Stangel added 10 each. It is the second-consecutive game that UW-Platteville has had four players score in double figures.

The Warhawks (20-2, 11-2 WIAC) were led by the 21-point efforts by Eric Bryson and Chris Davis. The duo was joined in double figures by Luke Knoble and Quardell Young, who each added 10 points.

A driving layup by Litz tied the game at 27 with 1:24 to play in the first 20 minutes. Then, the Pioneers were kept off the scoreboard for the remainder of the half. A 3-point play by Davis put the Warhawks ahead by three, 30-27 with 55 seconds to go. Then, with less than a second to go in the first half, Lucas Burns was found open by Young for a 3-pointer to send the visitors into the intermission with a 33-27 lead.

With a halftime lead, the Warhawks entered the game with a perfect 19-0 mark. UW-Whitewater extended that mark to 20-0 while shooting a blistering 61.9% effort from the field in the final 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Pioneers cut the deficit to three, 34-31, when they scored four of the first five points of the half with 17:06 to left in the game. Then, the Warhawks came back with six unanswered and eventually built the lead to double digits for the rest of the game on a 3-point play by Quardell Young with 10:20 to go. The Pioneers would get as close as 12 and the visitors stretched the lead to as much as 19 in the final margin.

UW-Platteville will look to bounce back in its next game when they travel to UW-La Crosse on Saturday for a 5 p.m. tilt against the Eagles.