Pioneers drop regular-season finale
February 18, 2006
UW-Platteville ended its regular season with an 80-66 loss at UW-Oshkosh Saturday.
The Pioneers take a 12-12 record, including a 7-9 conference mark, into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament. The sixth-seeded Pioneers will face now third-seeded UW-Stevens Point Tuesday at 7 p.m. in UWSP's Quandt Fieldhouse.
The Pioneers won both meetings this year, 70-66 in Quandt Fieldhouse, and 66-65 last Wednesday in Williams Fieldhouse. The teams are meeting for the fifth time in WIAC playoff history, with the teams splitting the previous four games.
UW-Oshkosh (17-8, 10-6 WIAC) ended the regular season in fourth place and will play host to fifth-place UW-La Crosse. The other quarterfinals feature top-seeded UW-Whitewater playing host to UW-Eau Claire, and second-seeded UW-Stout home to UW-River Falls.
The Titans, the preseason WIAC favorite who was ranked second in the national preseason poll, led 27-22 at the half. The Titans then shot 63 percent in the second half to hold off the Pioneers, who shot better than 60 percent themselves in the final 20 minutes. The biggest difference came at the line, where the Titans made 26 of 35 from the line, compared to the Pioneers' 14-19.
Jeff Skemp and LeVon Crawford led the Pioneers with 18 points apiece, with both making 6-9 from the field.
Andy Jahnke tied the Pioneer duo for game-high honors with 18 points, while Jim Capelle scored 15 and Kerry Gibson 14 for the Titans.
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