Pioneers defeat Eagles to advance to WIAC Tournament Final

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team is heading to the WIAC Tournament Title game for the sixth time in program history after Thursday's 74-51 win over UW-La Crosse. The defending WIAC Tournament Champions will look to secure their fourth tournament title and third title in the last four seasons on Saturday at UW-Oshkosh in search of the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

The Pioneers who are ranked No. 6 by d3hoops.com improved to 21-4 as the No. 9 ranked Eagles drop to 20-6.

While UW-Platteville had a stellar night from three-point range, shooting 46.2 percent (12-of-26) and never trailing in the game, the Pioneers' defense left the Eagles scrambling from the start as seven of UW-La Crosse nine points in the opening 12 minutes came from the foul line. 

Back on the court for the first time since Jan. 19, Logan Pearson's (So./Appleton, Wis.) layup at the 7:18 mark extended the Pioneers' lead to 11 before the Eagles knocked down two free throws and jump shot at the half's buzzer cut the lead to seven, 30-23, at the break. 

Kyle Tuma (Sr./Valders, Wis.) chipped away 14 first half points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. 

Thriving off the energy of a loud Williams Fieldhouse, the Pioneers returned from the half and another Pearson layup gave UW-Platteville a 37-27 lead at 16:24. The Eagles never cut their deficit to fewer than 10. 

Quentin Shields (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) knocked down a three-pointer at 4:56 to take a 58-39 lead. Two free-throws by Tuma and a layup by Brad Nies (Jr./De Pere, Wis.) held the 19-point lead at 62-43 with 3:05 remaining. Ben Probst (So./Madison, Wis.) went on to close out night, bringing the crowd and bench to their feet while dishing out four three-pointers in a two-minute span to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the night with a 26-point advantage in the final minute. 

Tuma led the Pioneers with 18 points and nine rebounds and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.  Both Justin Stovall (Sr./Chicago, Ill.)  and Pearson added 14 apiece while Probst finished with 12. 

Wyatt Cook led the Eagles with 15 points, making 7-of-8 free throws. 

UW-Platteville outrebounded UW-La Crosse 43-29. 

Overall, the Pioneers shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field including 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from three-point territory. UW-La Crosse finished shooting 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the field including 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from behind the arc. 

The Pioneers were 77.8 percent (14-of-18) from the foul line while the Eagles made 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) attempts. 

As the tournament's second seed, UW-Platteville will travel to no. 1 UW-Oshkosh on Saturday, Feb. 26 for the Final. The Titans will look to claim their fifth WIAC Tournament title, most recently claiming the 2020 crown in-between the Pioneers' 2019 and 2021 titles. 

The Championship game (presented by Culver's) in Kolf Sports Center is set for 5 p.m.