Pioneers knock off first-place UW-River Falls, 72-61

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men’s basketball team defeated first-place UW-River Falls 72-61 on Saturday, handing the Falcons their first conference loss

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Pioneers knock off first-place UW-River Falls, 72-61
January 23, 2016

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team defeated first-place UW-River Falls 72-61 on Saturday at Williams Fieldhouse, taking their overall record to 9-8 and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record to an even 3-3.

Senior Boston Johnson was the high scorer for the Pioneers, logging 19 points and nine rebounds in the win. Sophomore Trey Sigel wasn't far behind Johnson, scoring 18 points and recording two rebounds and a block.

The Pioneers only let the Falcons take the lead once throughout the entire 40 minutes of play, taking control of the game with 12:46 remaining in the first half.

The entire first half was all UW-Platteville, the Pioneers leading 37-26 at the half.

When it came time for the second half, the Falcons didn't give up so easily, but close the gap any more than nine points throughout the final minutes of play.

While each team scored an even 35 points in the second half, it was the Pioneers' big first half that boosted them to the 72-61 victory over UW-River Falls.

As a team, the Pioneers shot 43.4 percent from the field, including a 94.7 free throw percentage, missing only one of 15. The Pioneers also doubled the Falcons' number of points in the paint, and took advantage of the UW-River Falls turnovers, scoring 10 points from Falcon errors.

The Pioneers return to action Wednesday, Jan. 27 at UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.

Written by: Carly Willman, University Information and Communications, 608.342.1194, willmanc@uwplatt.edu