Pioneers take down Royals 81-64, remain undefeated

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The #5 ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team used a 12-point run early in the second half to separate for the final time of the day from Bethel University in Saturday afternoon's 81-64 victory on Bo Ryan Court. With the win, the Pioneers improve to 7-0 on the season while the Royals drop to 2-3.

For the second time this season, UW-Platteville had five Pioneers in double-figures. Kyle Tuma (Sr./Valders, Wis.) put up his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Quentin Shields (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) had a team-high 18 points. Blake McCann ( Sr./Janesville, Wis.) added 15, Justin Stovall (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) registered 11 and Ben Probst (So./Madison, Wis.) added 10 off the bench.  

While the Pioneers never trailed in the match-up, they were also never able to pull away by more than 12 points in the first half, much of which to give thanks to Bethel's Zach Doely who went 6-of-7 from the field in the half to score 14 of Bethels 32 points.

UW-Platteville led by seven (39-32) at halftime. The Royals cut it to five, scoring first in the half, before the Pioneers went on a 12-0 run with two made free throws by Shields followed by two jump shots by Shields, two by McCann and one by Stovall to lead 51-34 with 16:41 remaining.

From then on, Bethel could never close the gap by more than 11.

Shields added 10 points in the next four minutes to extend the lead to 63-42 with 10 minutes left in the game.  A Royals turnover forced by Logan Pearson (So./Appleton, Wis.) led to a fast break and dunk by McCann followed by a three-point basket by Jack Huml (So./Janesville, Wis.) from Stovall to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the night, 70-47 with 7:47 on the clock.

Shields' second half alone included 16 points, three assists and two rebounds. Doely mirrored his first half and added another 14 points for a game-high 28 points (12-of-14). Alex Ranney (Sr./Waterloo, Wis.) had a career-high and game-high two blocks.

Overall, UW-Platteville shot 51.6 percent (32-of-62) from the floor, 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from three-point territory and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the free throw line. Bethel finished shooting 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field, 17.9 percent (5-of-28) from beyond the three-point arc and 70 percent (7-of-10) from the free throw line.

The Pioneers held the advantage under the board with 37 total rebounds to the Royals' 31. Bethel turned over the ball 11 times to UW-Platteville's seven while the Pioneers tallied seven steels.

"We've been working at cleaning things up and taking care of the basics," said head coach Jeff Gard after the game. "We continue to take pride in the little things and what we have done on defense. We look forward to stepping back on the floor on Monday and taking care of things from here forward.

Up next, the Pioneers will open Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition on the road at UW-La Crosse. The teams last met up in the 2021 WIAC Championship game hosted by La Crosse where UW-Platteville defeated the Eagles 74-47 win their 22^nd regular season and third tournament title. The Pioneers travel to UW-La Crosse on Wednesday, December 1 with game time set for 7 p.m. between the two undefeated and 7-0 teams.