And so we danced.

The UW-Platteville men’s basketball team made it to the big dance for the first time in 10 years, but their waltz was stopped short in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament in a loss to Wheaton College.

The Pioneers’ toes started to tingle as they received a seed in the tournament. Players, coaches, students and community members all gathered in the Pioneer Student Center March 2. The entire room was quiet in anticipation of if, who, when and where the Pioneers were going to begin their dance. As it was announced that the team was to play Hope College, the room exploded into cheers and smiles. Both seniors Jeff Skemp and Bo Ricter said they were excited to be in the playoffs despite their conference title loss.

Practice for the playoffs went on as normal for the Pioneers.

“We aren’t doing anything special for our game against Hope,” Skemp said. “We are trying to keep our schedule and the way we do things as normal as possible because we have had so much success in the past. We are definitely excited to have the opportunity to play in the tournament, but for me personally, nerves won’t be an issue by game time.”

Junior guard Curt Hanson said it felt good to get into the tournament.

“I’m happy we made it because of our seniors, because they have showed me and taught me a lot,” Hanson said. “We are gonna play hard to give back to them what they gave to us.”

Pioneer and Flying Dutchmen fans filled King Arena at Wheaton College as a battle of orange and blue was about to take place for the first round of the playoffs.

Chancellor Markee made the three-hour trip to Illinois to show his support.

“I’m very excited to be here. It’s always great to follow our students, the band and everybody else that joins the athletic team,” Markee said. “Its been a decade since we haven’t been involved in the NCAA tournament. Paul [Combs] has does an outstanding job and we are excited to achieve what we were doing ten years ago.”

Long time Pioneer fan Tom Osterholz says it’s a great atmosphere any time a team gets to the playoffs. He was here for all of those championships in the 90’s and thinks there is still great support from the fans, the community, parents and students.

“Being a Pioneer fan we certainly hope that we come out on top,” Osterholz said. “During the ride down, you always have the anticipation of ‘can we do it or cant we do it.’ It’s always an interesting time to be in the playoffs, I love it.”

The Pioneers didn’t disappoint their fans as they overpowered Hope College by a 27-point margin with a final score of 83-56 as the crowd roared and the UW-P school song blared from the pep band. Head coach Paul Combs gave credit to the community for their win.

“This win was for all the folks in the community because they have been with us all season and the past ten years,” Combs said.

Hope’s head coach Glenn Van Wieren credited the Pioneers for finding a way to stop his team.

“They were exceptional against us,” Van Wieren said. “You can tell they play well together and that they are a veteran team.”

As UW-P prepared for their second round match with Wheaton College on March 7, the fans waited in excitement for the second battle of orange and blue to get underway.

“I’ve been really nervous and excited for the guys and I know that they have worked hard to get here so it’s really nice to follow them,” Gentry Timm, senior education major, said.

In the hard fought battle that went into overtime, tears were shed by the Pioneer athletes and fans as Wheaton came out on top with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen as they defeated UW-P 74-69.

“I was really pleased with our effort,” Combs said. “We talk about having no regrets and I don’t think this team can have any regrets because we certainly laid it all out on the floor. We give Wheaton credit because they made a few more plays down the stretch then we did.”

Since the Bradley exhibition game Nov. 9 the team has played with no fears.
“We’ve never been down or out ever,” Skemp said. “Our guys don’t quit, they don’t know what that is. We keep going til the final horn blows and that’s what Pioneer basketball is.”

The Pioneers’ season goal was to not only get to the NCAA tournament, but to dance while they were there and that’s exactly what they did. Just as it says on the kiosk outside of Bo Ryan Court: “Forever. Pioneers.”