On Nov. 15, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville hosted Luther College at the Williams Fieldhouse for the home opener and first game of the season for the Pioneers and the team showed that they are a force to be reckoned with. The Pioneers walked away with an impressive 69-39 victory over Luther College and dominated on both sides of the ball.

The Pioneers started out strong, taking an early 7-0 lead to begin the half, thanks to the first 5 points of the game from Cory Vassen, who would end the game with 7 points total. The 7-point run was finally snapped by a long three from Luther’s Christian Wright. Luther kept the game close until a steal by Matt Oestreich who ran down the court capping it off with a slam dunk, giving the Pioneers a 9-point lead. The Pioneers just kept pouring on the points during the first half while Luther was struggling to keep up. The first half ended with the Pioneers up 34-18.

The second half was much like the first. The Pioneers took full control of the game with 18 minutes left going up by 24 thanks to an Oestreich three. The rest of the half was all Pioneers as their defense remained stout and they just couldn’t find a way to stop scoring. Many of the Pioneers bench got playing time during the second half.

Upcoming for the Pioneers is an away game on Dec. 3 at Central Iowa following a return home on Dec. 14 to take on the University of Dubuque.