In a whirling turn of events, the men’s basketball team ended their season too soon as they fell 59-55 to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Tuesday Feb. 24.
The Pioneers have seven seniors including lead scorer Jim Stocki with a total 1,048 career points and Jake Manning with 1,030. Other graduating players are: Collin Macomber, Coop Lewis, Jameson Collin, Steve Scharch and Wes Nemitz.
The first half was taken over by the Pioneers with a 14-7 lead at the 10:14 mark. Stocki scored two of his 22 points with 4:26 left in the first half to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the game. Back-to-back threes by both Stocki and Nemitz led the team into halftime with a 10-point lead, 34-24.
“We were able to establish the ball in the post early and work to the outside and make open shots,” Manning said.
The Pioneers were not able to start off the second half as strong. Manning scored their first point at the 16:36 mark. The UW-Oshkosh Titans quickly caught up to the Pioneers to tie the game at 44 with only seven minutes left to play.
The Titans took their first lead shortly after with a 6-0 run, 50-44, until junior Corey Vaassen hit a layup to cut the lead to 50-46 with only 2:51 remaining.
The score remained close as both teams continued to fight for the next playoff spot. Stocki took the last Pioneer shot of the season with a missed three-pointer in the last seven seconds of the game.
“We had a great season and shared a lot of great times,” Stocki said. “Overall it was extremely positive over the past four years and I will never forget it.”
Even though the season ended sooner than the Pioneers wanted, they played a close contest against the Titans. There were only three lead changes throughout the game and the score was tied four times.
The Pioneers completed their season with a 16-10 overall record and a 9-6 WIAC record.
“The guys’ preparation from the time they stepped back on campus with fall workouts helped set the tone for this year’s team,” Coach Jeff Gard said. “A big focus for this year’s team was on communication and with the impact of some newcomers into our rotation the upperclassmen knew they would have to take charge to get everyone on the same page early.”
As of now, the Pioneers plan on 12 of their 19 players returning next season.
“Our number one focus will be on academics and finishing out the spring semester on a high note.  Outside the classroom our primary focus for the off-season will be on player development (strength, speed and fundamentals). Along with player development our coaching staff will turn or focus onto finalizing our 2015 recruiting class.  Having lost 7 student-athletes from the 2014-2015 team we will need to reload for the future of Pioneer Basketball by bringing in individuals that will fit into the system both on and off the court,” Gard said.