Pioneers fall on the road
February 18, 2009
UW-Eau Claire scored the final eight points of the game and beat fourth-ranked UW-Platteville 65-60 Wednesday in UWEC's Zorn Arena.
With the Pioneer loss and UW-Whitewater's loss at UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point clinched the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. The fifth-ranked Pointers are 21-3 overall and 14-1 in the WIAC, while the Pioneers and third-ranked Warhawks are both 20-4, 12-3.
The Pioneers finish the regular season at UW-Stevens Point Saturday at 3 p.m., and the Warhawks travel to UW-River Falls as both teams are battling for the second seed in the conference tournament and a first-round bye. The third seed will host a first-round playoff game Tuesday night, while the top two seeds are off until hosting the semifinals Thursday night.
Jeff Skemp scored a layup with 3:41 to play and added one of two free throws 32 seconds later for a 60-57 Pioneer lead. The Blugolds' Dan Beyer made two free throws with 2:45 to play, then gave UWEC the lead for good with a tip-in at 1:44. After the Pioneers had several good looks that just missed, they were forced to foul, and Ryan Shea made two free throws with 13 seconds remaining, and Beyer made two more with four ticks left.
Both Shea and Beyer scored 23 points for the Blugolds, who improved to 15-9 overall and 8-7 in the WIAC.
Curt Hanson scored 18, Skemp 17 and Nick Allen 10 in the see-saw game that featured 12 lead changes and eight ties.
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