Warhawks upset No. 5 Pioneers

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team (13-9, 6-5 WIAC) upset No. 5 nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville (19-3, 8-3 WIAC) 78-75 Wednesday night on Bo Ryan Court. Off the floor, the Pioneers won big for Garding Against Cancer as fans in attendance raised over $3,300 during a donation bucket run in the second half.

Five Pioneers finished in double figures as did four Warhawks. UW-Platteville's Quentin Shields (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) had a game high 19 points to bring his career total to 1,589 points and move into the fourth spot all-time in the Pioneers' record book.

The WIAC rivals exchanged leads eight times and knotted the score nine times in front of 1,213 fans in Williams Fieldhouse. UW-Platteville led 41-35 after 20 minutes of play, but UW-Whitewater rallied and pulled ahead for the upset while going 16-of-17 from the foul line, the Pioneers 5-of-7 in the half.

UW-Platteville shot 50 percent (32-of-64) from the field including 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from three-point territory. The Warhawks finished 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) from the floor, making 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) of three-point shots taken.

In addition to 19 points, Shields added seven assists and four rebounds. Justin Stovall (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Kyle Tuma (Sr./Valders) and Ben Probst (So./Madison, Wis.) tallied 12 points while Brady Olson (Fr./Cuba City, Wis.) recorded a career best 11 points.

UW-Whitewater's Jack Brahm put up a team-best 17 points while Jameer Barker went 3-of-5 from the three-point arc and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Gage Malensek made 8-of-8 free throws taken in the second half for a total of 15 in the game.

UW-Platteville will look to bounce back on the road this Saturday, Feb. 12 when they travel to UW-River Falls for a game starting at 5 p.m. in Page Arena.