Pearson Posts Career-High In Loss To Ripon

RIPON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team dropped its first game of the season in close fashion, falling 69-67 to the Ripon Red Hawks Tuesday night inside Weiske Gymnasium in Ripon, Wis.

The Pioneers scored the first seven points of the game and later increased the lead to 22-9 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. Junior Logan Pearson provided much of the offense, scoring 19 of the first 29 points for UW-Platteville. The Pioneers extended the lead to 17 at 38-21 with 4:27 remaining in the first half, but Ripon closed the half on a 13-1 run to trail by five at 39-34 heading into the break.

After the Red Hawks got within three early in the second half, the Pioneers pushed the lead back to 11 behind a 10-2 run. Ripon continued to chip away at the deficit and took a one-point lead with six minutes left at 59-58. Both teams traded buckets in the closing minutes, and the score sat tied at 65 with a minute left. Ripon took the lead on a second-chance bucket, but Pearson answered with a jump shot with 28 seconds left. The Red Hawks took a one-point lead with a free throw, and the Pioneers jumper with four seconds left fell short. Ripon made one last free throw to win 69-67.

Pearson set another career-best with 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. Junior Ben Probst was the other Pioneer to reach double figures, tallying 11 points and adding seven boards. Freshman Max Love led the bench unit with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. Senior Brad Nies grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. UW-Platteville finished shooting 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from three.

Jaylen Mahone led the Red Hawks with 13 points, while Luke Meinholz finished with 12 off the bench. Ripon shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc.

The Pioneers host Mount Mercy for their 2022-23 home opener on Friday, Nov. 18. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the first game of the Gabe Miller Classic presented by DRA.