Pioneers beat Stout, 71-57
January 3, 2009
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| Mike Shaw drives against the Blue Devils |
Mike Shaw scored 27 points for the second time this week, leading top-ranked UW-Platteville to a 71-57 win over visiting UW-Stout Saturday afternoon.
Shaw matched his career high, set Tuesday in the Pioneers' loss loss, 70-68 at St. Norbert. The Pioneers led 28-24 at the half, then used a 15-4 run to open the second half , extending the lead to 43-28.
"Defensively, we picked it up in the first five minutes," Shaw said. "On our team, we stress the beginning of the second half, and we feel that's the focal point of the game. If we can come out and bury them in the first five minutes, I feel like we're going to win 95 to 98 percent of the games."
Two Shaw free throws gave the Pioneers a 47-30 lead before the Blue Devils scored nine straight points. Jerod Buckholtz's layup capped the 9-0 Stout run, but Curt Hanson stopped it with a three-pointer for a 50-39 lead. Stout's Jerrell Enerson-Matthews scored a fast-break layup, before Jeff Skemp and Shaw each hit two free throws for a 54-41 advantage and the Blue Devils were never closer than double figures the rest of the way.
Hanson and Skemp each scored 17 for the Pioneers, who improved to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Shaw's 27 were the all the bench points the Pioneers scored. The Super Sub is averaging 17.6 points per game without starting a contest.
"I think it's just confidence," Shaw said. "Coach (Paul) Combs tells me to attack, attack, attack. As a college basketball player, if someone tells me to attack, I'm going to do it."
Eric Hostetter led Stout (4-7, 0-4) with 12 points, making 5-6 from the field, while Matthews-Enerson added 11.
Shaw was happy with the way the team bounced from its first setback Tuesday.
"The guys responded great," he said. "We're mature. We've lost before, but we don't want it to become a nature for us. We've put it behind us and moved on. We have a full week of WIAC basketball ahead of us, and we're all excited for the WIAC season...The number one ranking was really cool, but we want to be that at the end of the season."
The game will be replayed on Fox Sports Net Wisconsin Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Pioneers play host to UW-Oshkosh Wednesday at 7 p.m. and fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point Saturday at 3 p.m.
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