Balanced offense attack leads Pioneers over Gustavus Adolphus

PLATTEVILLE, Wis.- The #5 ranked Univeristy of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team had five players in double figures as they put away Gustavus Adolphus 77-62. The Golden Gusties took a two-point lead with 8:49 left in the first half, it was the Golden Gusties only lead of the night as the Pioneers pulled away in the second half to finish the Gabe Miller Classic 2-0.

The Pioneers improve to 3-0 on the year, while Gustavus Adolphus drops to 0-2. The Pioneers would go into halftime with a seven-point lead despite shooting 38.2% (13-of-34). The Pioneers built their halftime lead up to 18 in the second half. They shot 57.1% (16-of-28) from the floor and 46.2% (6-of-13) from behind the arc. For the contest, the Pioneers shot 46.8% (29-of-62) and 43.5% (10-of-23) from the three-point line. The Golden Gusties shot 41% (25-of-61) from the field and 24% (6-of-26) from three-point land.

Quentin Shields (Sr. / Chicago, Ill.) led all scorers with 22 points. Kyle Tuma (Sr. / Valders, Wis.) (13), Logan Pearson (So. / Appleton, Wis.) (13), Justin Stovall (Sr. / Chicago, Ill.) (11) and Blake McCann (Sr. / Janesville, Wis.) (10) also scored in double digits. Tuma missed his third straight double-double by one. He had a game-high nine rebounds.

A Peter Lundquist lay-up would cut the Pioneers lead to 64-52 before back-to-back three-point baskets by Stovall pushed the lead to a game-high 18 points. The Golden Gusties would get the lead down to 13-points twice over the final two minutes. McCann's highlight dunk with 1:04 left, and two Tuma free throws with :43 seconds left, kept the lead at 15.

The two teams would trade baskets to reach the final score of 77-62.

The Pioneers return home on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. when Concordia Wisconsin visits Bo Ryan Court. The teams last met when the Pioneers defeated the Falcons in the opening round of the 2020 NCAA Division III National Tournament.