PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Senior Max Love scored a game-high 20 points as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (15-8, 7-5 WIAC) held UW-River Falls (8-15, 3-9 WIAC) to a season-low in points in a 64-47 win on Saturday evening inside Williams Fieldhouse.

Love shot 5-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line to reach the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season. Junior Bristol Lewis joined him in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while senior Aiden Wieczorek added eight points while going 2-of-2 from three-point range.

The Pioneers put together an impressive first half on both sides of the ball and carried a 37-16 advantage into the break. An early 10-point run, capped by a three-point make by Lewis, helped UW-Platteville jump out 17-5 midway through the half, and another seven-point run to close the half increased the lead to 21. The defense held the Falcons to just 22.2 percent (4-of-18) shooting in the first half and kept the visitors from scoring across the final 3:47 leading up to halftime.

The lead grew to a game-high 25 points four minutes into the second half on a midrange jumper by junior Lucas Rameker. UW-River Falls answered with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit down to 45-30, but buckets by freshman Kaden MacKenzie and Love made it a 19-point with under 10 to play. The Falcons got as close as 12 in the closing minutes, but a three from the corner by Love and two free throws by Lewis secured the win for the Pioneers.

UW-Platteville shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) for the game and 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from deep. The Pioneers also got to the line at a consistent rate and finished at 69.6 percent (16-of-23).

The Falcons finished at 31.3 percent (15-of-48) from the floor and 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from beyond the arc. Gavin Ralph led the team in scoring with nine points.

Senior Joey Fuhremann grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the Pioneers outrebounded UW-River Falls 38-26. Love recorded four steals in the win, and UW-Platteville turned 16 Falcons turnovers into 24 points.

The Pioneers hit the road Wednesday night to face UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a free ice cream cone (with purchase) the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering a free churro (with purchase) the day after each Pioneer win.