Pioneers set to battle UW-La Crosse for men’s basketball title

Platteville, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team will travel to UW-La Crosse to battle the Eagles for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship game (presented by Culver's) Friday, March 5 at 7 p.m.  The Pioneers and Eagles split two games during the regular season, with each team defending their home court. 

The Pioneers are the number one seed out of the WIAC East Division and UW-La Crosse is the number one seed from the WIAC West Division.  After four tiebreaking scenarios could not determine home court advantage, a coin toss was conducted by WIAC commissioner Danielle Harris, which the Eagles won. The winner of the game will be named 2021 WIAC regular season and tournament champion.

The Pioneers and Eagles have met five times previously in the WIAC tournament.  The Pioneers are 4-1.  This will be the first meeting in the Championship game since the tournament started in 1999.  The Pioneers have won 21 regular season titles, the last in 2020 and two tournament titles (1999, 2019).  The Eagles have won 12 regular season titles, with the last in 2016.  They have not won the WIAC tournament.

Pioneer fans will be able to watch all the action by clicking this link.

The Eagles won the first game on Feb. 24, 65-57.  Seth Anderson led the Eagles with 19 points, Wyatt Cook added 14 and Ethan Anderson had 10.  Senior Quentin Shields had a season-high 25 points, while Junior Kyle Tuma chipped in 11.

The Pioneers rebounded two days later and defeated the Eagles 73-50.  Tuma scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds.  No Eagles scored in double figures.

The Pioneers had a first-round bye with the suspension of UW-Eau Claire's season due to COVID-19 protocols.  The Pioneers defeated UW-River Falls to reach the finals 67-53.  Senior Justin Stovall led the Pioneers with 24 points, including an amazing highlight dunk early in the second half, but it was his defense against Falcons Alex Ohde that got the Pioneers to the championship game.  Ohde was the WIAC number three scorer coming in, averaging 20 points a game.  Stovall and the Pioneers held Ohde to 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

Tuma and Stovall both pulled down nine boards.  Junior Blake McCann scored 14 points and Shields dished out seven assists. 

UW-La Crosse defeated UW-Stevens Point 76-68 in the quarterfinals.  Ethan Anderson led the Eagles in scoring with 31 points. Cook had a double-double with 15 points and 13 boards. Sean Suchomel dished out nine assists.

The Eagles defeated UW-Oshkosh 75-72 to reach the championship game. The Eagles held a 21-point lead with 15:10 left before the Titans went on a 21-point run to tie the game with 8:40 left.  The remainder of the game saw both teams take four-point leads before the Eagles survived a last chance three-pointer by Eric Peterson to advance. Seth Anderson led the Eagles with 17 points, while Ethan Anderson had 15 and Cook had 14.

Shields leads the Pioneers in scoring (15.7) and assists (3.67). Tuma leads the Pioneers in rebounding (6.7), while Stovall leads the team in blocked shots (1.78).

Ethan Anderson leads the Eagles in scoring (17.0), and Cook leads the Eagles in rebounding (6.2). Suchomel leads the WIAC in assists (4.30) and the Eagles in steals (1.60).

Jeff Gard is in his 12th season as head coach and has a career record of 187-116. Kent Dernbach is in his fourth season as head coach of the Eagles and has a record of 58-31. Overall, it is Dernbach's fifth season as a head coach with an overall record of 67-36.