WHITEWATER, Wis. – In a low scoring contest, a late run pushed top-seeded UW-Whitewater (20-6) to a 66-56 win over the fourth-seeded University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (18-9) on Thursday night inside Williams Center in the WIAC Semifinal matchup.

Senior Aiden Wieczorek scored a career-high 17 points for the Pioneers on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of makes from three-point range. Joining him in double figures was senior Joey Fuhremann, who added 12 points.

Scoring came at a premium in the first half, and UW-Whitewater held a slim 19-17 lead with just over five minutes left until the break. UW-Platteville responded with a seven-point run behind a three from senior Max Love and a pair of buckets from Furhemann to take a five-point lead. The Warhawks got back within one, but junior Bristol Lewis sent the Pioneers into halftime with a three-point lead at 25-23 with a tough midrange jumper as time ran out.

The Pioneers scored the first six points of the second half to increase the lead to nine and later weathered a Warhawks scoring run thanks to a three by junior Lucas Rameker and a three-point play by Wieczorek. Senior Miles Hettinger made it a 42-31 game with 12 minutes left with a second chance score, but UW-Whitewater quickly erased the deficit with an 11-point run to take the lead. With 3:08 remaining, Wieczorek cut the deficit to two, but the Warhawks scored the final eight points of the game to win 66-56.

UW-Platteville shot 36.7 percent (18-of-49) for the game and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from beyond the arc.

For the Warhawks, Collin Madson scored a game-high 23 points while Kelton McEwen added 16 points off the bench. UW-Whitewater shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor, including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in the second half.

The Pioneers will await the NCAA DIII selection show on Monday, March 2, to learn if they receive one of the 21 at-large bids. The show is scheduled to take place at noon CST.