Pioneers win for real this time
November 15, 2008
By Paul Erickson, Sports Information Director
Any thoughts that UW-Platteville was still in a celebratory mood after beating NCAA Division I Bradley 84-79 in an exhibition last Sunday were quickly dispelled Saturday night, as the Pioneers opened their regular season with an 87-56 win over Viterbo on Bo Ryan Court.
"It was good getting out to a fast start," said forward Kyle Tetschlag, one of four seniors on the team. "We got the crowd behind us, and we need to get them excited for the whole year. We just needed to win and play like we did tonight...There's always worries, because you don't know how you're going to come out on your home court since we haven't played here yet this year. We came out strong and knew what we had to do. We got after it coming out of the gates."
After Viterbo's Brad Hammann scored the game's first points, the Pioneers rolled off the next 12. After Viterbo crept within 15-10, the Pioneers scored the next 11 points and rolled from there.
UWP led 38-22 at the break and held the visitors to just five points the first 9:37 of the second half for a 65-27 lead.
"In the first half, we gave up a couple of easy buckets, but in the second half we came out right away and kept them to a low score," Tetschlag said. "I thought we did real well. That's what we've been working on, and I thought we did a good job."
Sixteen players saw action, and none for more than 25 minutes for Coach Paul Combs' club. Mike Shaw scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 in the first half, making 6 of 10 on three-point attempts. Curt Hanson added 16 points, and Jeff Skemp scored 10, while Charlie Lohoff and Tetschlag each had eight. Lohoff also dished off a career-high eight assists. The seventh-ranked Pioneers out-shot the V-Hawks 51-37 percent.
Ryan Ambrose led Viterbo (0-3) with 17 points, and Keith Rash scored 13.
UW-Platteville returns to action this weekend in the Pioneer Ford/Tri-Cor Insurance Tipoff Classic. The Pioneers face Clarke Friday and Loras Saturday, both at 7 p.m. St. Norbert plays Loras Friday and Clarke Saturday, both at 5 p.m.
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