UW-River Falls tops Men's Basketball, 78-71

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- Despite a hot start and 52 combined points from Boston Johnson and Jim Stocki, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team fell to UW-River Falls, 78-71, on Bo Ryan Court on Saturday night. 

Stocki netted a game-high 28 points and tied a career-high with five three-pointers. Johnson scored 24 points to go with his six rebounds and four steals. Jake Manning was the only other Pioneer to score over eight points with 10.

The Pioneers opened the game with three three-pointers, taking a 9-2 lead. With an 18-8 lead and six minutes into the game, the Pioneers shot 7-of-11 from the field and made 4-of-6 from three-point range, while UWRF shot just 36 percent from the floor. From the 14:00 mark of the first half, the Pioneers went on to shoot just 37 percent the rest of the game while the Falcons shot 55 percent in the final 34 minutes. 

A steal and dunk by Johnson gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game 27-15 with 11:15 left in the half. The Falcons went on a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to two, 30-28, just under five minutes to go in the half. Johnson came up with a steal and a layup to end the Pioneers eight-plus-minute drought, 32-28. The Pioneers held on to a four-point lead, 36-32, to go into the locker room. 

UW-Platteville managed to push its lead back to nine, but a 9-0 run by the Falcons tied it up, 48-48, with just over 12 minutes to go. A layup by CJ Lewis gave UWRF its first lead off the game, 56-54, with just over 10 minutes left to play. The Falcons wouldn't allow the Pioneers to retake the lead in the final 10 minutes and led by as many as eight in the final minute.

River Falls takes sole possession of third place in the WIAC with a 4-2 record as the Pioneers settle to 3-3 and are in fourth in the standings.

UW-Platteville will make its last conference trip to UW-Superior on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m., as the Yellowjackets are leaving the WIAC at the end of the 2014-15 season.