That must have been the feeling for UW-Platteville, who beat UW-La Crosse 70-62 Wednesday in Williams Fieldhouse. It was the Pioneers' first home game since Dec. 4, and since then they have played six games in three states and travelled more than 2,000 miles.
The Pioneers began their five-game homestand in fine fashion, leading from start to finish, even though the scrappy Eagles put up a fight to the end.
The Pioneers scored the final nine points of the first half for a 36-22 lead. They maintained that lead for much of the game, until the young UWL squad went on a 14-5 run, closing the gap to 67-62 with 56 seconds remaining. Brandon Temperly, however, hit 3-4 from the line to seal the victory.
UW-Platteville improved to 9-5 overall and 4-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Eagles fell to 4-11, 1-5.
UWP's Brad Reitzner, who made 13-15 free throws, led all scorers with 21 points, while Sean Krause scored 13, and Temperly 12. Krause also delivered an alley-oop pass from well beyond the three-point line that LeVon Crawford slammed home in the first half (pictured on the Pioneer web site and captured by photographer Andy McNeill). The very scientific UWP Sports Information rankings rated that the best dunk here since the L.A. Lakers' Devean George went halfway up the backboard for a jam in his final collegiate game for Augsburg College in 1999.
Chris Fehrenbach led UWL with 15 points, while Chris Ask added 12.
The Pioneers return to Williams Fieldhouse Saturday to play UW-River Falls at 5 p.m.