The Falcon men's basketball team opened their WIAC conference season with a victory in Platteville on Saturday night. They entered the weekend ranked 25th in the D3Hoops.com poll with a 4-2 record on the season.
The game was very even early in the first half as both teams went back and fourth down the court. The lead changed hands five times before took a ten-point, 30-20, lead on a three pointer from Wade Guerin (Bloomington, MN, St. Croix Lutheran HS) with 3:56 to play.
Chris Palmer (Faribault, MN, St. Mary's University) added a layup with 2:21 left in the first half and gave the Falcons a 34-22 lead at halftime.
The Falcons came out strong in the second half and never gave up the lead.
Shane Manor (Altoona, WI, UW-Superior) gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game with 6:21 left in the second half when he dropped in a layup, got fouled, and completed the three-point play at the free throw line to put the Falcons up by 17, 58-47.
UWRF did a fantastic job defensively throughout the second half as they protected the lead and went on to win 68-57.
"Nice start in the conference season for us with a win on the road," said Coach Jeff Berkhof, "Our balanced scoring and solid team defense were keys in the win."
Manor finished with a team high 13 points. He also grabbed five rebounds and tallied five assists while going 5-7 at the free throw line.
Palmer had a game high 12 rebounds and also added 12 points.
Guerin scored ten points and recorded five rebounds.
The Falcons grabbed 40 total rebounds and the Pioneers had 31 total rebounds.
UWRF shot 53% from the field and it proved to be too much for Platteville as they shot just 39% from the floor.
Platteville also hurt themselves at the free throw line where they shot just 26%. The Falcons were 71% from the charity stripe.
UWRF improves to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the WIAC. UW-Platteville falls to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the WIAC.
The Falcons will now travel to UW-Oshkosh to take on the Titans in another WIAC matchup next Saturday, December 10th at 6 p.m.