An intense basketball game between the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons on Feb. 18 resulted in a loss for the Pioneers. The game began with the Falcons scoring the first points, but the Pioneers quickly retaliated and took the lead. From then on, the Pioneers maintained a strong lead over the Falcons, with fans cheering and complimenting the Pioneers’ rebounding ability.

“They should focus on better ball handling,” junior engineering student Dalton Howell said referring to one Pioneer’s attempt to pass the ball through an opponent’s legs. The Pioneers led by 9 points at the end of the first half.

During halftime, Pioneer fans were asked what they thought of the game so far. “Corey [Vaassen] is killin’ it,” senior business administration major Ashley Taylor said. Taylor also added that the team could box out better and get more rebounds.

When asked what the Pioneers could improve upon, senior electrical engineering and sousaphone player for the pep band Brett Helwig said that they could work on catching more defensive rebounds. He also said turnovers were a bit of a flaw this season. The band continued to entertain fans with songs such as “Monster” and “Final Countdown.” The crowd was also entertained by fabulous stunts from the cheerleading team.

At the start of the second half, the Falcons began to close the gap between the score. Platteville opened with a 3-pointer from Robert Duax, but it was immediately answered by a 3-pointer from the River Falls. Chancellor Dennis Shields playfully jeered the referees as they distributed penalties to both teams throughout the game. A player from the Falcons made an attempt to dunk, but missed and the crowd again went wild as the Pioneers caught the rebound. For several minutes the Pioneers maintained the lead, but the Falcons were catching up, closing the gap to as little as one point. Finally, with just three minutes left in the game, the Falcons managed to tie the Pioneers as they struggled to make offensive plays. The score remained close until the final 60 seconds of the game, when a foul on UW-River Falls resulted in two free throws for Platteville. However, the Pioneers were still down by 2 points, and with just 7 seconds left on the clock multiple timeouts were called by both teams in preparation for the final play. Eventually, a foul on Platteville resulted in 2 free points for River Falls and a final score 65-61.