Advertise with us | Subscribe

Your Hometown Newspaper Since 1854

print article Print     e-mail article E-mail
Published February 25, 2011, 03:41 AM

Falcons headed to WIAC title game

The UW-River Falls men’s basketball team advanced to the WIAC Tournament Championship game for the first time in school history by defeating UW-Platteville, 69-60, in a semifinal game Thursday night at Karges Center. Falcon seniors Jontae Koonkaew and Jake Voeltz, playing for the final time in front of the Karges faithful, carried the team on their backs in the second half as UW-RF hit the 20-win mark for the first time since 2004.

By: Bob Burrows, River Falls Journal

  • Jake Voeltz
    • image
    UW-River Falls head coach Jeff Berkhoff, right, presents senior Jake Voeltz with the game ball after the Falcons defeated UW-Platteville 69-60 in a WIAC semifinal game Thursday night at Karges Center. Voeltz was honored for scoring his 1,000th career point in the Falcons’ final game of the regular season last Saturday at Platteville. He scored 20 points in Thursday night’s win to bring his career total to 1,025.

The UW-River Falls men’s basketball team advanced to the WIAC Tournament Championship game for the first time in school history by defeating UW-Platteville, 69-60, in a semifinal game Thursday night at Karges Center.

Falcon seniors Jontae Koonkaew and Jake Voeltz, playing for the final time in front of the Karges faithful, carried the team on their backs in the second half as UW-RF hit the 20-win mark for the first time since 2004.

Koonkaew scored 20 of his team-high 23 points in the second half while Voeltz finished with 20 points, 14 after intermission.

The Falcons will travel to UW-Stevens Point Saturday at 3 p.m. for the WIAC final and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Platteville hit six three-pointers in the opening ten minutes of the game and led 22-7 before the Falcons cut the gap to 29-25 at the break.

The Falcons tied the score twice early in the second half but didn’t take the lead for good until the 8:39 mark on a jumper by Voeltz.

UW-RF’s lead grew to seven, 63-56, with 3:36 remaining but Platteville scored four straight points to cut the gap to 63-60 with 2:24 left. The Falcons shut out the Pioneers the rest of the way while getting a layup from Aaron Anderson and four free throws from Koonkaew in the final minute to make the final 69-60.

The Falcons, ranked No. 22 in this week’s D3hoops.com poll, improved to 20-6. UW-Stevens Point, the defending NCAA Division III champions, will play in their fifth consecutive WIAC title game. The Pointers, 23-3, have won 29 of their last 30 home games and are currently ranked fourth in the nation.

Tags: , , , , 

More from around the web