And then there were two.

The Falcon's Men's Basketball team advances to the WIAC Championship game for the first time in school history by defeating Platteville 69-60. The Karges Center crowd was electric and remained standing most of the night as they watched the Falcons win their first playoff game in seven years and earn their first trip to the conference title game.

The historic win did not come easy as the Falcons fell behind 22-7 in the first 10 minutes due largely to the sharpshooting of the Pioneers hitting six early three-pointers. The Falcons were able to recover and put together a 13-1 run which started by Ollie White (Mound, MN, Mound-Westonka HS) forcing two steals, pulling down an offensive board and scoring a few buckets in the paint to bring the crowd back to their feet.

Trailing 47-43 with 10 minutes to play, Jontae Koonkaew (Apple Valley, MN, Apple Valley HS) missed a three pointer and the rebound was grabbed by the Pioneers. Koonkaew refused to give up on the play and swiped the ball for a clean steal went in for an easy bucket and drew a foul to keep the Falcons hopes alive. 

On the next possession, Jake Voeltz (River Falls, River Falls HS) went in hard to the basket and drew another foul to give the Falcons a 48-47 lead, their first lead in over 27 minutes.  This would also be the final lead of the game as the Falcons poured it on and cruised to a 69-60 victory.

The Pioneers defense put up a fight as they have done all year in the WIAC but the Falcons came through by playing as a team, hitting clutch shots, and coming up with huge hustle plays.  Although the Falcons were outrebounded 31-27, Shane Manor (Altoona, UW-Superior) pulled down some of the games most crucial boards as he finished with a game-high nine rebounds. 

In the end the Pioneers had no answer for Koonkaew or Voeltz as they finished with 23 and 20 points, respectively. The two seniors carried the team on their backs down the stretch to guide the Falcons to their 20th victory of the season, the most since 2004.

Up next the Falcons head to Stevens Point for the second time in two weeks to take on the top-seeded Pointers in the WIAC Championship. Quandt Fieldhouse is one of the toughest places to play in the country as the Pointers have won 29 of their last 30 in front of their home crown.  Stevens Point is no stranger to this event as this marks their fifth consecutive championship game appearance, winning three of the last four. 

Tip off for the WIAC Championship is at 3 P.M. at Quandt Fieldhouse in Stevens Point.