LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Continuing their hot three-point shooting, the George Fox University Bruins tossed in 10 more from long range but could not stop a fine shooting performance by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and fell 98-91 to the Pioneers in the D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Classic Saturday afternoon here at South Point Arena.

Taking a cue from the Bruins, the Pioneers opened the game with consecutive threes by Eric Gerber and 6-8 center Chas Cross, but the Bruins answered with a free throw by Sean Atkins and back-to-back threes by Jason Martin and A.J. Grant for a 7-6 lead. Layups by Spencer Bolte and Atkins gave George Fox its largest lead of the game at 11-8 with 16:19 to go in the half.

Jonny Howard's trey at the 14:12 mark gave the Bruins their final lead of 18-16, but Boston Johnson put the Pioneers ahead for good with a three of his own 10 seconds later.  A jumper by Corry Vaassen and a three by Jim Stocki extended the Platteville lead to 24-18, and they led by as much as 11, going up 53-42 on a Cross layup with 18 seconds left.  Atkins drained a three a second before the end to make it a 53-45 game at halftime.

George Fox shot .529 (18-34) in the first half, including .429 (6-14) from behind the arc, but Platteville consistently beat the Bruins' pressure for numerous layups and hit at a .636 clip (21-33), including a blistering .583 (7-12) from downtown, in the opening 20 minutes.  Atkins led all scorers with 17 points in the half for the Bruins, while Vaassen paced the Pios with 16.

The Pioneers scored the first six points of the second half on layups by Johnson, Cross and Stocki to take a 14-point lead of 59-45 before Atkins completed a three-point play to get the Bruins on the board again at the 18:09 mark.  The margin hit 15 when Peyton River sank a layup for a 65-50 Pio advantage with 14:24 to play, and it stayed in double digits for most of the next seven minutes.

A three by Atkins got the Bruins within eight at 77-69 with 6:51 remaining, and they cut it to four at 80-76 on a Howard charity toss with 4:18 to play.  Stocki drained a three to push the UWP lead back to seven, but Grant answered with a layup and free throw to make it 83-79 with three minutes left.  The Pioneers fended off the Bruins' comeback attempt, however, by hitting 13-14 free throws the rest of the way.

Atkins led the Bruins with 28 points, followed by Grant with 20, Bolte with 13, and Howard with 10.  The Bruins finished with a .471 shooting mark (32-68), .371 (10-27) on threes, and .810 917-21) from the line.  Seth Brent led all rebounders with 10 and just missed a double-double with nine points.  Bolte passed out five assists and Atkins made three steals.

Five Pioneers scored in double figures - Stocki with 31, Vaassen 18, Cross 16, Johnson 12, and Gerber 11.  The Pios shot .593 (32-4) for the game, including .533 (7-12) on threes, and .788 (26-33) on free throws.  Cross had nine rebounds, Stocki six assists and Johnson five, and Vaassen had three steals.

Despite the loss, George Fox first-year coach Maco "Shark" Hamilton liked his team's efforts in the Classic, declaring, "I think we showed that we can be competitive with anyone in the country.  Superior (whom the Bruins defeated 100-81 on Friday) was big and strong, and Platteville, I thought, looked just as good as Stevens Point, the No. 1 team in the nation.  They did a good job against our press in the first half, they were disciplined and patient and didn't force things, but we also have to do better job of getting to our positions defensively.  I'm pleased with our non-conference record, but we've still got some improving we can do as we get back into conference play."

With its five-game winning streak snapped, George Fox is now 8-2 overall and finished 7-2 in its non-conference games.  Wisconsin-Platteville, which was listed among "others receiving votes" in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, improved to 8-3.

NEXT: George Fox picks up Northwest Conference play in earnest Friday, visiting Pacific Lutheran University Friday for an 8:00 p.m. contest.  The men's game will be preceded by the GFU-PLU women's game at 6:00 p.m. … Wisconsin-Platteville continues in the D3hoops.com Classic Sunday, taking on Whitworth University at 8:00 p.m.