ANGOLA, Ind. – The No. 24 ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (9-2) dropped its final scheduled non-conference game 80-68 to No. 19 Trine University. The Pioneers second half comeback fell short after the Thunder (10-1) jumped out to a 41-23 lead at the half. 

The tournament hosts were first to act and held a 16-6 lead midway through the first half. The Thunder nearly double that lead by halftime, behind a 51.7 percent (15-of-29) shooting mark. The Pioneers struggled to find rhythm in the first half, finishing 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) from the field. Trine was able to capitalize on nine UW-Platteville turnovers, turning them into 12 points.

The Thunder carried their momentum into the second half and jumped out to their largest lead of the day, 53-30, with 13:38 remaining in the game. From that point on, momentum shifted to the Pioneers with back-to-back threes by senior Ben Probst followed by another three-pointer by senior Logan Pearson. 

Another three-pointer and a layup with a made free-throw by freshman Bristol Lewis shrunk Trine's lead to 11 with 8:18 remaining, but that would be as close as UW-Platteville would get to catching the Thunder.

Probst finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-25 shooting and 6-of-7 at the free-throw line. All but four points fell in the second half for Probst while also adding five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Joey Fuhremann had a team-high seven rebounds. 

The Pioneers shot 28.6 percent (20-of-70) from the floor,  26.3 percent (10-of-38) from beyond the arc and 75 percent (18-of-24) from the free throw line. UW-Platteville's bench scored 32 points with Lewis finishing with a career-high 13. 

The Thunder finished 30-of-64 (46.9 percent) from the floor, 3-of-12 (25 percent) from beyond the arc and 17-of-27 (63 percent) from the foul line. All five of Trine's starters finished in double-digits.

UW-Platteville will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 3 when they travel to UW-Eau Claire and Zorn Arena for the WIAC opener at 7 p.m.