The University of Wisconsin- Whitewater men's basketball team fell to UW-Platteville, 70-66, in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference contest Wednesday night.
 
UW-Whitewater clinched the No. 5 seed for the WIAC Championship next week and will be traveling to UW-River Falls next Wednesday to kick off post-season play.
 
The Warhawks (16-8, 6-7 WIAC) tied the score, 66-66, with 1:02 remaining in the game, but could not convert in the final minute to overcome the Pioneers, who shot 47.8 percent from the field in the game.
 
Junior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) led UW-Whitewater with 16 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists.  Sophomore forward Riley Jensen (Milton, Wis./Janesville Craig) added 13 points and junior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) tallied 11 points.
 
In the first half, junior guard Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) drained a 3-pointer at 17:44 to give the Warhawks a 5-3 lead.  UW-Platteville answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead 9-5.
 
At 12:44, junior guard Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) contributed a 3-pointer than regained the lead for UW-Whitewater at 10-9.
 
The Pioneers (21-3, 11-2 WIAC) took the lead back and led the Warhawks 22-16 with just under nine minutes remaining in the first period.  UW-Platteville extended its lead by 16 with three minutes left in the first half.
 
Junior Maurquis Turner (Milwaukee, Wis./King) made a pair of free throws with one minute left in the half to bring UW-Whitewater within nine.
 
The Warhawks continued to climb its way back in the second half.  A layup by Jensen at 16:33 cut the deficit to just six for UW-Whitewater.
 
At 11:02 Pfeifer sank a 3-pointer to cut the Pioneers lead to four at 52-48.
 
With less than four minutes remaining in the game, Brown finished a layup and brought the Warhawks within two points.
 
Sachs hit a jump shot with 1:19 remaining in play to tie the score 66-66, which was the first time UW-Whitewater came even or ahead of the Pioneers since the first eight minutes in the contest.
 
The Warhawks were down, 68-66, with 24 seconds in the game and possession of the ball.  With eight seconds remaining in the game UW-Whitewater took a shot, but could not get it to fall.
 
Despite the Warhawks shooting 50 percent from the field, UW-Platteville made 10 3-pointers compared to five by the UW-Whitewater.  The Pioneers shot 16-of-19 from the free-throw line in the contest.
 
The Warhawks will continue play Saturday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. against UW- La Crosse in Kachel Gymnasium in Whitewater, Wis.