The thought of playing what likely would be another difficult game in less than 48 hours didn’t scare Tony Mane. And he believed in his heart the outcome would be a positive one.

Mane’s demeanor contradicted the disappointed look he shared with his UW-La Crosse men’s basketball teammates Thursday night. UW-Platteville had pulled out a 78-77, double-overtime WIAC victory over the Eagles at Mitchell Hall. It was a game in which UW-L held leads late in regulation as well as the first overtime.

UW-L's Andrew Haass goes up for a layup early in the second half Thursday night at Mitchell Hall. Jared Anderson photo

And as luck — or in this case Mother Nature, would have it — UW-L (10-11, 5-7) had one day to prepare for Saturday’s game at UW-Oshkosh. The Eagles’ game against Platteville (16-4, 10-2) had been delayed a day by a snowstorm that prevented the Pioneers’ team bus from leaving southwestern Wisconsin.

Mane knew it would be a difficult loss for the Eagles to shake off. But he knew they had to move forward.

“We played hard. (UW-L) Coach (Ken) Koelbl told us he was proud of the way we played,” said Mane, who scored a game-high 25 points. “But at the end of the day nobody feels good right now because we couldn’t get the win.”

And what a win it would have been had UW-L beaten the Pioneers, who took sole possession of first place in the WIAC and are ranked 17th by D3hoops.com.

The Eagles led 62-60 with 19 seconds left in regulation after junior point guard Brandon Brown sank one of two free-throw attempts. They led 68-65 after Chris Fehrenbach nailed a jumper with 1:55 left in the first overtime.

But Platteville responded each time. Junior center Jeff Skemp forced overtime by sinking two free throws with 5 seconds left. Charlie Lohoff’s

3-pointer with 1:32 left in the first overtime tied the game at 68. And Curt Hanson’s free throws with 8 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Pioneers a 78-75 lead.

“I always tell our guys that character isn’t built through adversity. It reveals who you are,” UW-Platteville coach Paul Combs said. “We’ve responded well in tough games.”

Koelbl is optimistic the Eagles will do the same, even with what was a crushing defeat.

“These guys are young, and they’re resilient,” Koelbl said. “We’ve got a group that’s competed hard against the top teams in the league. We know that we can go toe-to-toe with them. Our guys know that they’re good enough to (beat them).”

Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414 or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com.

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