RIVER FALLS, Wis. – An efficient 32-point performance by junior Logan Pearson helped the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (14-10, 7-6 WIAC) coast to an 84-50 road win over UW-River Falls (11-13, 5-8 WIAC) on Saturday evening in Page Arena in River Falls.
Junior Logan Pearson got the scoring started for the Pioneers, as he knocked down a three and made a layup on the first two possessions of the game. UW-Platteville led by six early, but back-to-back threes by UW-River Falls evened the game at 10 with 14 minutes left in the first half. Pearson scored five more points on a 7-0 Pioneers run to make it 19-11 midway through the half. Leading 30-26 with five minutes until halftime, UW-Platteville went on a 14-point run to close the half to lead 44-28. Sophomore Julian Samuels scored seven points on the run to help the Pioneers hold a 16-point advantage at the break.
The Pioneers offense continued to score in the second half, as freshman Aiden Wieczorek knocked down a three and Pearson scored five more points in the first five minutes. A seven-point run in favor of UW-Platteville allowed the lead to grow to 23 at 61-38 with just under 10 minutes to play and a second run of seven unanswered made it 72-43 with 5:28 left. The Pioneers were able to coast to an 84-50 road win.
Pearson scored a game-high 32 points while shooting an impressive 10-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Samuels added 19 points while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line, while Wieczorek totaled 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. The Pioneers shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field and shot 83.3 percent (20-of-24) from the free throw line.
Rodrick Payne led the Falcons with 12 points as UW-River Falls shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the field and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc.
The Pioneers will travel to UW-Whitewater for their final regular season contest on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.
