Box Score
Box score
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - The Wisconsin Lutheran
College men's basketball team fell to Wis.-Platteville Sunday in
the Wis.-Platteville Thanksgiving Classic 70-52 on Bo Ryan Court at
the Williams Fieldhouse in Platteville, Wis.
The Warriors and Pioneers (4-2) played a tight contest for the
first 16-plus minutes of the first half as Platteville led 24-23
with 3:45 remaining with neither team leading by more than five
points before that time. The Pioneers then went on a 10-2 run to
close out the half behind eight points from Brett Stangel to take a
34-25 lead into the locker room.
Wisconsin Lutheran shot well from beyond the arc in the opening
20 minutes as it made 6-of-11 from long distance. Senior Alex
Merbach (Kaukauna, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) and junior Nate Bauer
(Lake Mills, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) each made two three's in the
opening half.
In the second half, the Warriors would get no closer than eight
points on a couple different occasions as Wis.-Platteville's
18-point margin of victory was its highest lead in the game.
Second half shooting proved to be a big difference in the game
as the Pioneers shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the floor in the
second half compared to the forest green and white's 30 percent
(9-of-30) shooting.
Merbach led three Warriors players in double figures as he
finished with a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds. Bauer and
Russell Strutz (Sturtevant, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) each notched
11 points in the loss. Tim Demuth (Franksville, Wis./Racine
Lutheran) dished out a game-high six assists as well for Wisconsin
Lutheran.
Stangel and Jake Manning led Wis.-Platteville with 19 points and
Manning also pulled down 12 rebounds to finish with a
double-double.
For his efforts in the classic, Merbach was named to the
All-Tournament Team as he finished with 32 points and 13 rebounds
in the two games played.
Wisconsin Lutheran (1-4) will return to action Tuesday night
when it begins Northern Athletics Conference play by hosting
defending NAC North Division champion Concordia Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0
NAC). Tip-off at the Recreation Complex is set for 7 p.m.
