PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Nate Schimonitz nailed a contested layup on the right side of the basket with 3.1 seconds remaining for the game-winning basket as Nebraska Wesleyan stunned 8^th-ranked Wisconsin-Platteville 79-78 in front of a sold out home Bo Ryan court in Platteville, Wis.
 
The school record setting 27^th victory sends the Prairie Wolves to the Elite 8 where they will face the no. 1 ranked team in the nation, Whitman College, on Saturday night at 7 pm with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
 
NWU led for over 18 minutes of the second half and held a seven point advantage with 2:29 left after a technical foul was called on the Pioneers.  However that sparked the home team and they hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within one point with 1:49 remaining.  Schimonitz took the game in his own hands and converted a layup with 1:19 left to go back up by three.
 
On the other end of the floor, Jake Showalter scored for UWP  making it a 77-76 game with one minute left.  NWU got a good look on a jump shot by Jack Hiller that rattled out, then Cooper Cook secured the offensive rebound but his putback spun off the rim giving the ball back to the Pioneers.  WIAC Player of the Year Robert Duax pulled down an offensive rebound and scored with 13 seconds left giving the Pioneers their first lead since the 11:19 mark.
 
A timeout setup the eventual game-winning play.  Hiller brought the ball down the court and passed to Schimonitz at the top of the key.  Schimonitz drove hard down the lane and hit a fade away layup off the glass with 3.1 seconds left.  UWP inbounded the ball but lost control near midcourt and the Prairie Wolves bench erupted to storm the court.
 
The Prairie Wolves didn't let the sold out home court advantage intimidate them early as NWU jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.  The Pioneers then responded, mainly behind their star Robert Duax. Duax scored 17 first half points, including 17 of the first 22 points of the game for UWP.
 
UWP took a 13-12 lead with 14:29 to play and held onto the advantage until the 8:39 mark when Deion Wells-Ross tied the game at 22-22.  He scored again to put the Prairie Wolves ahead and they stay ahead the rest of the first half, getting up by as many as 10 points at one time.  NWU took a 45-39 lead into the halftime break as the Pioneers made an offensive putback as the horn sounded.
 
NWU continued to hold onto their lead the majority of the 2^nd half until the Pioneers hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions to take the lead at the 12:34 point in the 2^nd half.  Their lead was short lived as NWU got a basket by Ryan Garver and three from Schimonitz to regain the lead.  The lead would be extended to as many as nine points with just over seven minutes left to play.
 
A Jack Hiller layup off an assist from Garver with 4:31 to play put NWU up 73-66.  The Prairie Wolves didn't make another field goal until 1:19 remaining when Schimonitz scored.  Cooper Cook hit two free throws after the technical foul to put NWU ahead by seven then the Pioneers made the late push that came up just short.
 
NWU shot 47.7 percent from the floor, but made only 7-25 from 3-point range.  They were 1-10 from long distance in the second half.  UWP, one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, was 10-34 from long range and hit 44.3 percent overall.  The Pioneers held a +7 advantage on the glass, getting 17 second chance points.
 
Schimonitz led the Prairie Wolves with 27 points on 10-21 shooting.  He also had four steals, four rebounds and three assists.  Cooper Cook posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
 
Deion Wells-Ross and Jack Hiller both scored 13 points as four NWU players reached double figures.  Ryan Garver had eight points with six  rebounds and a team-high five assists.
 
Duax ended the game with 22 points for the Pioneers.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan will now prepare for an Elite 8 matchup with #1 Whitman College from Walla Walla, Washington.  Whitman has lost only one game this season.  The winner earns a spot in next weekend's NCAA III Final Four in Salem, Virginia.