SUPERIOR, Wis. – Twenty-nine points by the Pioneers' bench led the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team past UW-Superior, 77-73, Saturday at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.

Junior Wes Nemitz led the Pioneers off the bench with a team-high and career-high 19 points, while freshman Cory Vaassen added 10 points. Nemitz went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and made all four of his free throws. Junior Jim Stocki netted 16 points and senior Chas Cross rounded out the Pioneers top scorers with 12.

The Yellowjackets' Jarrod Peterson led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Bronson Byrne with 18 points.

UW-Superior used a small run midway through the first half to jump out to a 26-20 lead. A three-pointer by Nemitz stopped the Yellowjackets run and propelled to Pioneers to take a 39-33 lead with 1:10 till halftime. UW-Superior managed to score six unanswered in the final minute to tie the game up at 39-39 at halftime.

With the Pioneers with a slight 46-45 lead, Vaassen scored six of the Pioneers next 11 points as UW-Platteville took a 57-46 lead with 11:55 left to play. The Yellowjackets responded with a 9-2 run, 59-57. But the Pioneers never allowed UW-Superior to retake the lead and held on to a 77-73 victory.

UW-Platteville returns to action on Saturday, January 11 at UW-Stout with tip off set for 3 p.m.