Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Student Assistant
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- The Pioneers spread the ball well Saturday night, seeing four players score in double digits as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team beat UW-Superior 72-57 at Bo Ryan Court.
For the first five minutes of the game, the Pioneers shot 12.5 percent, going 1-8 from the field, while the Yellowjackets shot 83.3 percent, going 5-6.
Junior Boston Johnson was the first Pioneer on the board with a 1-2 free throw.
After an 11-1 run by the Yellowjackets with 15:30 left in the half, the Pioneers first field goal came from freshman Matt Oestreich, 11-3.
Another set of free throws by senior Jim Stocki closed the gap for the Pioneers, 13-5.
Following a Vassenn layup and a turnover by the Yellowjackets, Stocki brought the game within two, sinking two more free throws.
Stocki finished with 13 points along with four rebounds.
A Manning rebound and put back off of a Stocki miss, tied the game up at 15 with about 10 minutes left in the half.
Manning led the Pioneers with 17 points, going 5-7 from the line, along with two steals and seven rebounds.
After the Yellowjackets led 11-3 earlier in the period, the Pioneers went on a 17-4 run to make it 20-15 with 7:52 remaining in the half.
During that time the Pioneers went 6-10 from the field compared to the Yellowjackets' 1-6.
A three-pointer by freshman Trey Siegel brought the Pioneers one of their largest leads of the half at 13 to make it 39-26.
After trading a few baskets between the teams, it was Sigel again with the three-point basket to end the half, and sent the Pioneers into the locker room up by 13, 44-31.
Sigel finished with 11 points going 3-4 from downtown.
At the end of the first half the Pioneers managed to even out their early shooting struggle by finishing 17-31 and outscoring the Yellowjackets 43-30 since the 5:30 mark.
The Pioneers also outrebounded the Yelowjackets 12-7 since that mark.
The second half of play started out pretty even for both teams as the Pioneers shot 3-5 compared to the Yellowjackets' 3-7, about four minutes into the period, 51-39.
After the Yellowjackets closed it within nine, 51-42, a Manning free throw, along with a Stocki layup brought the Pioneers back up by 12, 54-42.
Following a double technical between Stocki and Superior's Zach Schradle the Pioneers went on 12-4 run, making it 66-46 with eight minutes remaining.
For the rest of the second half, the Pioneers did not allow the lead to come within 14 as they cruised to a 72-57 victory.
The Pioneers travel to UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 4 to take on the Titans at 7 p.m.
