WIAC win over Blue Devils sees six Pioneers in double figures

PLATTEVILLE, WIS. – The No. 2 nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team held off a late University of Wisconsin-Stout rally to defeat the Blue Devils 93-86 on Bo Ryan Court. The Pioneers improve to 15-0 and 4-0 in the league while UW-Stout drops to 10-5 and 1-3 in the WIAC. 

UW-Platteville took the lead for good at the midway point of the first half, but the Blue Devils remained on the Pioneers' heels the majority of the night. Ben Probst (So./Madison, Wis.) drained a three-pointer after back-to-back three-point shots by Justin Stovall (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) to take an 82-70 lead with 4:46 left in the game. UW-Stout answered back with a 9-2 run of their own to draw within three points with 1:33 to go. 

Although the Pioneers struggled at the free throw line all night, shooting 17-of-30 (56.7 percent), they did find success in crunch time and finished the final 1:06 6-of-10 from the foul line. 

For the first time this season, six Pioneers finished in double-digits with Kyle Tuma tabbing a seventh double-double this season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Quentin Shields (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) finished with a team-high 17 points and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line while both Logan Pearson (So./Appleton, Wis.) and Probst finished with 15 points. Stovall who was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, finished with 13 points and Blake McCann (Sr./Janesville, Wis.) with 10 points rounded out the six Pioneers. 

UW-Stout's Lovell Williams led the Blue Devil pack with a game-high 22 points. 

UW-Platteville shot 48.5 percent (32-of-66) from the floor, hitting 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from three-point territory. UW-Stout finished 51.6 percent (33-of-64) from the field, making 33.3 percent (6-of-18) of three-pointers and concluded the night 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the foul line. 

The Pioneers will return to action and hit the road on Wednesday, January 12 when they head to UW-Whitewater. Game time is set for 7 p.m.