Wisconsin-Platteville completed a perfect 30-0 season with its third Division III Men's Basketball Championship. Led by head coach Bo Ryan, the Pioneers rolled over Hope College, 68-59, to win the title. Wisconsin-Platteville came out strong in the first half scoring the first seven points of the contest. At the 11:17 mark of the opening stanza, the Pioneers held an 11-point advantage and never saw the lead drop below that figure. Hope actually outscored UWP in the second half (34-32), but could not overcome the 37-22 intermission deficit. Merrill Brunson led the Pioneers' charge dropping in a team-best 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, but offense was not the key to the win. Defense played the key role. UWP held Hope to just 36.7 shooting percentage, including just 17 percent from behind the three-point arc. Joel Holstege led Hope with 26 points on the evening while Kris Merritt netted 11 points. The Flying Dutchmen held the rebounding advantage, 37-34. Wisconsin-Platteville's Ben Hoffman was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The senior scored 16 points in Friday's game versus Williams and recorded nine in the championship. This marked the third time in Division III history that a men's basketball team completed the regular season undefeated and won the national title. The Pioneers accomplished the feat in 1995 when it finished the season 31-0. The first team to record a perfect national championship season was Potsdam State in 1986 (32-0).
Championship
Wisconsin-Platteville 69, Hope 56
at Salem, Va. (att. 3,915)
All-Tournament Team
Ben Hoffmann, Wisconsin-Platteville (Most Outstanding Player)
Andre Dalton, Wisconsin-Platteville
Joel Holstege, Hope
Michael Nogelo, Williams
Dave Jannuzzi, Wilkes
Third-Place Game
Williams 105, Wilkes 93
National Semifinals
Hope 81, Wilkes 61
Wisconsin-Platteville 82, Williams 68
Sectional Finals
Williams 100, St. Lawrence 82
Wisconsin-Platteville 78, Gustavus Adolphus 71
Wilkes 58, Hunter 55
Hope 84, John Carroll 66
Sectional Semifinals
Williams 90, Hamilton 69
St. Lawrence 94, Connecticut College 77
Gustavus Adolphus 67, Illinois Wesleyan 61
Wisconsin-Platteville 78, Chicago 63
Hunter 84, Catholic 82 (2 OT)
Wilkes 83, Rowan 80 (2 OT)
Hope 81, Christopher Newport 64
John Carroll 77, Hampden-Sydney 71
Second Round
Williams 82, Springfield 75
Hamilton 87, St. John Fisher 72
Connecticut College 93, Salem St. 89
St. Lawrence 96, Nazareth 75
Illinois Wesleyan 95, Franklin 92 (OT)
Gustavus Adolphus 65, Nebraska Wesleyan 51
Chicago 67, Wabash 62
Wisconsin-Platteville 69, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 59
Hunter 65, Jersey City St. 60
Catholic 67, Johns Hopkins 62
Rowan 81, New Jersey 58
Wilkes 59, Scranton 57
Christopher Newport 78, Mississippi College 67
Hope 80, Allegheny 66
Hampden-Sydney 76, Trinity (Texas) 62
John Carroll 78, Wooster 59
First Round
Williams 89, Trinity (Conn.) 63
Hamilton 102, Geneseo St. 68
Salem St. 86, Mass.-Dartmouth 78
Nazareth 81, Brockport St. 78
Franklin 76, Ripon 73
Gustavus Adolphus 78, Augsburg 70
Wabash 87, Aurora 80
Wisconsin-Oshkosh 93, Pomona-Pitzer 71
Jersey City St. 71, NYU 58
Johns Hopkins 87, FDU-Madison 47
Rowan 70, Kings Point 49
Scranton 77, Muhlenberg 61
Mississippi College 60, Sewanee 54
Allegheny 97, Baldwin-Wallace 88
Trinity (Texas) 60, Randolph-Macon 55
John Carroll 72, Albion 50
Jersey City State is now known as New Jersey City U.