Skemp Leads UW-Platteville in Win over UW-L

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Platteville, Wis. – Jeff Skemp matched his career-high with 23 points as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team earned an 74-65 victory over UW-La Crosse Wednesday night at Bo Ryan Court. The Eagles fall to 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the WIAC while the Pioneers improve to 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

UW-L led 9-8 with 14:38 remaining in the first half on an Andrew Haass lay-up, but Mike Shaw gave UW-Platteville a 10-9 lead on a jumper with 12:31 left to start a 7-0 run for the Pioneers. UW-Platteville would never trail the rest of the game. The Pioneers led 22-17 before ending the half on a 11-6 run to lead 33-23.

UW-Platteville led by as many as 13 points in the second half and the Pioneers took a 47-36 lead with 11:27 remaining. The Eagles then went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 49-45 with 8:28 remaining, but UW-L could get no closer than four points the rest of the game. UW-Platteville led 53-49 with 6:30 left and scored the next six points for a 59-49 margin. Charlie Lohoff had a pair of layups for the Pioneers and Curt Hanson hit two free throws in the 6-0 run. The Eagles later cut the margin to 63-57 with 2:32 remaining, but Lohoff hit a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a nine-point lead with just over two minutes left.

Haass led UW-L with 17 points, going seven-of-eight from the field and three-of-four at the free throw line. Brandon Brown finished with 16 points and three steals, finishing six-of-six from the field and hitting all four of his free throw attempts. Chris Fehrenbach added 13 points (all coming in the second half) and Billy Kegler 12 for the Eagles.

UW-L shot 53.2% from the field, including 57.1% (four-of-seven) from three-point range. The team was 11-of-14 (78.6%) at the line.

Skemp finished with 23 points for the Pioneers, going nine-of-13 from the field and five-of-nine at the free throw line. Lohoff added 17 points and Hanson 14. UW-Platteville shot 57.5% from the field, including 50.0% (six-of-12) from three-point range. The Pioneers were 22-of-31 (71.0%) at the line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 19 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 5 p.m.