HOLLAND, Mich. – The No. 4 nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team defeated Hope College (4-4) 73-63 Saturday afternoon at DeVos Fieldhouse. The Pioneers finished 2-0 in back-to-back games this weekend in Michigan and have now won the first 11 games of the season, a feat that the program has not achieved since 2008-09.
Quentin Shields (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) and Kyle Tuma (Sr./Valders, Wis.) were the leading scorers of the game with Shields putting up 21, including 7-of-8 from the foul line. Tuma added 16 points along with eight rebounds.
UW-Platteville jumped out to a 6-0 lead with three different Pioneers scoring on their first three possessions of the game. Hope answered back with back-to-back three-point baskets by Jaxon Halbert to draw within one point by the 13:07 mark. The Pioneers maintained their two-possession lead until an 8-2 Flying Dutchmen run gave Hope its first lead of the game, 29-28 with 1:37 remaining in the half.
Ben Probst (So./Madison, Wis.) continued his three-point hot streak from Friday night with another three-pointer to cool Hope's run. Alex Ranney (Sr./Waterloo, Wis.) followed with two made free throws to conclude the half's scoring with UW-Platteville holding a slim 33-31 margin at halftime.
The Flying Dutchmen hung with the undefeated visitors until a 16-5 run in the later portion of the second allowed the Pioneers to pull ahead 65-54 with four minutes left in the game and they maintained their lead to finish with their eighth double-digit win of the season.
UW-Platteville finished shooting 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point territory and 76.9 percent (22-of-26) from the free throw line. The Flying Dutchmen finished 22-of-61 (36.1 percent) from the floor, 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) from the three-point arc and were a perfect 13-of-13 from the foul line.
The Pioneers will take a break until they travel to St. Norbert's Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament where they will face Beloit College on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 5 p.m.
