The University of La Verne dropped a 70-61 home decision to visiting Wisconsin-Platteville in men's basketball action Friday afternoon at Frantz Athletic Court.
The Leopards trailed 40-28 at the half and were down by as many as 15 points in the second half before mounting a rally to pull within six points on two occassions, but were unable to get any closer as the Pioneers would hold on to victory.
UW-Platteville (9-3) shot 57.7% (15-26) from the field in the first half and outscored the Leopards 14-4 over the final 6:56 of the opening frame to take a 12-point cushion into intermission.
A three-pointer from Eric Gerber early in the second half gave the Pioneers a 43-28 advantage with 19:03 to play. La Verne begin to chip away at the deficit and cut the lead into single digits on a Jake Vieth layup and free throw to pull within eight points at 50-42. A basket from Vince Bauer closed the gap to 56-50 with 7:47 remaining, but the Leopards went scoreless over the next four minutes as the Pioneers went on a decisive 9-0 run to take a 65-50 lead to eventually earn the win.
UW-Platteville's Chas Cross went 9-11 from the floor on his way to 18 points, adding four blocks, seven rebounds and two assists. The Pioneers enjoyed a 38-24 rebounding edge for the contest.
Vieth posted 18 points to pace La Verne followed by Jourdan Simmonds with 12 points.
The Leopards (1-8) resume action Saturday afternoon as they take on Anderson University in a 3:00 pm tip-off at Frantz Athletic Court.
