The fourth-seeded Pioneers advance to play conference champion UW-River Falls Thursday on the Falcons' home court. The Pioneers and Falcons split their regular season meetings, with UWP winning 57-56 on Jan. 17, and UW-River Falls taking a home 60-57 win last Saturday.
Fifth-seeded UW-Stout pushed the Pioneers to the limit, and then some. Luke Loney hit a three-point shot with 6.3 left in overtime, making the score 69-68. The Blue Devils were forced to foul, and had to get Brad Reitzner. He made both free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. Loney's running three-point attempt to tie rimmed out at the buzzer.
The Pioneers improved to 15-11 overall with their first home playoff victory since beating the Blue Devils 90-88 in overtime in the inaugural post-season tournament championship game in 1999. UW-Stout closes its season at 14-11.
UW-Platteville overcame an early UW-Stout lead to post a 32-30 halftime advantage. The Blue Devils made seven of their first nine shots for a 15-4 lead, but the Pioneers' Frank McGettigan nailed five three-point baskets in the first half to pave the comeback.
The second half featured five ties and six lead changes. Brandon Temperly made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, giving UWP a 59-57 lead. The Blue Devils' Greg Chaisson drove the lane and scored with 19 seconds left, tying the game at 59-59 and sending it into overtime.
Reitzner led the Pioneers with 23 points, making 5-11 three-point shots. McGettigan scored a career-high 20 points, with six three-point baskets. The Pioneers tied a school-record with 12 three-point baskets.
Nate Templer led the Blue Devils with 17 points, while Loney had 14 and Jeff Vandenberghe 13.
W-Stout vs UW-Platteville 2/24/04 7:00 at Williams Fieldhouse, UW-Platteville At Williams Fieldhouse, UW-Platteville UW-PLATTEVILLE 71, UW-STOUT 68 UW-STOUT (14-11) Templer, Nate 7-12 3-4 17; Loney, Luke 4-8 2-2 14; Vandenberghe, Jeff 4-9 2-2 13; Farmer, Terry 3-4 2-3 8; Chaisson, Greg 4-9 0-1 8; Craft, Blake 2-3 0-0 5; Maslowski, Adam 1-2 0-0 2; Severson, Nate 0-2 1-2 1; Reece, Isaac 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 10-14 68. UW-PLATTEVILLE (15-11) Reitzner, Brad 6-18 6-6 23; McGettigan, Frank 7-14 0-0 20; Gossens, Mark 3-8 2-2 8; Temperly, Brandon 2-4 2-4 6; Molitor, Tom 1-2 4-4 6; Krause, Sean 2-3 1-2 6; Crawford, LeVon 1-2 0-0 2; Uppena, Tom 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 15-18 71. UW-Stout...................... 30 29 9 - 68 UW-Platteville................ 32 27 12 - 71 3-point goals-UW-Stout 8-21 (Loney, Luke 4-7; Vandenberghe, Jeff 3-5; Craft, Blake 1-2; Maslowski, Adam 0-1; Severson, Nate 0-1; Reece, Isaac 0-2; Chaisson, Greg 0-2; Templer, Nate 0-1), UW-Platteville 12-26 (McGettigan, Frank 6-12; Reitzner, Brad 5-11; Krause, Sean 1-2; Gossens, Mark 0-1). Fouled out--UW-Stout-Vandenberghe, Jeff, UW-Platteville-None. Rebounds-UW-Stout 24 (Templer, Nate 6), UW-Platteville 31 (Gossens, Mark 7). Assists-UW-Stout 12 (Vandenberghe, Jeff 4), UW-Platteville 13 (McGettigan, Frank 5). Total fouls-UW-Stout 20, UW-Platteville 16. A-676