CHICAGO, Ill. – In a low scoring contest, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (18-10) fell 57-52 to Otterbein (23-5) in the opening round of the NCAA Championships on Friday night inside Chicago University's Gerald Ratner Athletics Center.

The Pioneers controlled the contest early, getting back-to-back three-point makes by senior Max Love and junior Lucas Rameker to take a four-point lead. With a slight two-point lead later in the half, UW-Platteville scored 10 unanswered points, including four from senior Miles Hettinger and a three-point play by junior Bristol Lewis, to pull ahead 29-17. Senior Joey Fuhremann closed out the half with a pair of free throw makes as the Pioneers entered the break leading 31-20.

A three-pointer by Lewis early in the second half pushed the advantage to a game-high 13 points, but Otterbein rallied with a 14-point run to flip the score in its favor at 40-39 with 8:29 remaining. Lewis hit a jumper to put the Pioneers back up one, but the Cardinals regained the lead and pulled ahead 54-46 with just over a minute left.

A tip-in by Rameker and a three by Love cut the deficit to three, but UW-Platteville was unable to get any closer in the closing seconds. Otterbein sealed the game at the line to hold on for the five-point win.

Love scored a game-high 13 points for the Pioneers, while Lewis and Rameker joined him in double figures with 10 points apiece. UW-Platteville finished at 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the floor in the game and 20.0 percent (5-of-25) from three-point range. From the line, the team went just 9-of-16 (56.3 percent).

On the glass, Fuhremann grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while senior Aiden Wieczorek and Rameker each added six.

For the Cardinals, Reece Huber scored 15 points and Jarius Jones tallied 12 points off the bench. Otterbein shot 37.0 percent (20-of-54) for the game, including 10.5 percent (2-of-19) from beyond the arc.

The Pioneers season ends with the program's third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. The senior class of Fuhremann, Hettinger, Love, and Wieczorek conclude a fantastic career that saw UW-Platteville 84-30 across the past four seasons.