On November 11th, 2023, we hosted the fourth annual Pioneer Classic. Teams that attended included: Nebraska, Illinois, Concordia, help from UW-Stout and an appearance by some of our alumni. We thank everyone that came and not only participated but came and supported us to make the event the spectacle that it was.
In terms of play, overall we went 2-1 on the day with our loss coming to UNL. We had moments throughout the day where we struggled to stick to how we know to play and in those moments became our biggest downfall. However, there were also times where we worked together and did what we know how to do best and showed how well we can perform as a unit. Early on we struggled to find our footing against UNL and it showed. Much like previous meetups this season, we found ourselves in a hole early on and never really recovered. We had moments where we thought we got a grip only to lose control in a matter of seconds. In our other two ranked matchups we got ourselves in a rhythm and were able to control the game the way we wanted to. We still had moments where we let the big picture get out of sight but were able to hold off the opponents and secure the win.
Here’s what some of our team had to say about the event:
Eric Sullivan (Rookie):
“I think last tournament was good in some ways but bad in others. For most of the points we worked well as a team and had great communication. The points that we lost or came close to losing we had issues communicating and we weren’t working together. We definitely learned a lot about how we need to play better and how we can more effectively communicate on the court and make smart plays.”
Zak Lathrop:
“The tournament overall went as expected, other than UNL. I knew that it was going to be challenging against UNL, but if we just would have played our game, we could have taken way more points than we did and maybe even won. CUW and UIUC, although we won both, we played sloppy and didn’t play our game. We have to play the same way all the time no matter who we are playing. But overall, the tournament went well and I’m proud of the things we accomplished.”
Nicholas Stocks (President):
“UWP’s performance at the Pioneer Classic proved we can compete with top teams such as UNL if we are able to effectively communicate on court and not fall victim to other team’s moments of chaos. This was a great tournament where our rookies were able to get valuable game experience. As a team and as individuals, we know what we need to work on to make ourselves better.”
We had a great time hosting this event and give a lot of thanks to the teams that made it possible as well as the fans that showed up to support us. If you missed the action and would love to see the games, check out the links below and make sure to subscribe to our channel to get notifications for our future games! Go ‘Neers!
