Having dropped two straight games in Las Vegas at the D3hoops.com Classic the previous weekend, the UW-Superior men's basketball team hoped a return to the friendly confines of Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium would result in a bounce-back victory Saturday afternoon.
The UW-Platteville Pioneers had other plans however. And despite several second half charges from the Yellowjackets, a balanced offensive attack that saw four players score in double-figures proved to be too much as Platteville held on for a 77-73 win in WIAC Conference action.
UW-Superior (4-8 overall, 1-2 WIAC) fell despite shooting 50.9 percent (29-of-57) and committing just nine turnovers. For their part, the Pioneers (9-4, 4-0) shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59), while also going 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from three-point range for the game.
The two teams traded scores in the early portions of the first half, resulting in an 8-7 Yellowjackets lead following a Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) layup with 17:22 remaining in the opening stanza.
Consecutive layups from Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) and Byrne vaulted UW-Superior into a 14-9 edge at the 13:19 mark before a three-pointer by Peterson and a layup by Dan Lochner (Maple Grove, Minn.) helped the Yellowjackets take a 21-17 lead with 9:33 showing on the clock.
Two free throws from Peterson eventually gave UW-Superior their largest lead of the first half at 26-20 with 8:19 remaining in the first half.
But the Pioneers rallied back, outscoring the Yellowjackets 19-7 over the next 7:09 for a 39-33 edge on a layup by Cory Vaasen with 1:10 left.
The Yellowjackets scored the final six points of the frame however for a 39-39 score at the intermission behind scores from Caleb Burch (Eau Claire, Wis./Altoona), Johnathon Scott and Bryne in the final minute of the first half.
Matters remained tight through the first 4:02 of the second half, resulting in a 46-45 Pioneer lead after a Burch jumper with 15:58 left regulation.
UW-Platteville scored the next eight points to take a 54-45 lead on a basket by Vaasen with 12:52 remaining in the second half.
A three-pointer by Wes Nemitz and a layup by Chas Cross upped the margin to 59-48 at the 11:22 mark before nine straight points by the Yellowjackets cut the lead to 59-57 with 6:52 remaining on the clock. Peterson started the burst for UW-Superior with a three-pointer and was followed by two free throws from Burch, and two straight layups from Byrne to conclude the run.
Jim Stocki connected on a corner three-pointer to up the lead to 62-57 on the next possession before a layup by Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis.) cut the Yellowjackets' deficit to 64-63 with 3:29 showing on the clock.
UW-Platteville scored five straight points however to take a 69-63 lead on another layup by Cross with just 1:49 remaining in the contest.
From there, the Yellowjackets never got closer than two points as the Pioneers connected on six straight free throws in the final 42 seconds in handing UW-Superior their third straight loss.
Peterson scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting for UW-Superior. Byrne added 18 points while Burch had 12 and Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) 11 for the Yellowjackets.
UW-Platteville was paced by Nemitz with 19 points. Stocki added 16 points while Cross had 12 and Vaasen 10 for the Pioneers.
The Yellowjackets hit the road to take ton UW-LaCrosse Wednesday evening. Opening tipoff from Mitchell Hall is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.