Pioneers Stifle Titans

UW-Platteville held the Titans to just two points over a span of more than 10 minutes as the Pioneers pulled away from the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, 67-47, on Thursday (Dec. 10) in Platteville.

The Pioneers (7-2/2-0 WIAC) posted a 13-2 scoring advantage during the final 4:14 of the first half and the opening 5:48 of the second period. UW-Platteville broke away from a 24-24 tie with Nick Allen's jump shot and then used Mike Shaw's three-pointer to take a 30-24 lead at halftime.

After intermission, UW-Platteville got lay-ups from Eric Wall, Curt Hanson and Shaw, who capped a three-point play to go ahead, 37-26, with 15:47 remaining. The Titans' (4-4/1-1 WIAC) lone field goal in their mid-game slump was a Steven Waudby (Sr. • Marquette, Mich.) lay-up at the 17:39 mark of the closing half.

Paul Wojahn (Fr. • Oshkosh) put in a bucket to cut the deficit to nine (37-28), but the Titans would trail by double digits the rest of the way. With 12:17 left on the clock, Shane Kieler buried a jumper to put the Pioneers up, 43-29.

Hanson rattled off nine straight UW-Platteville points to increase the advantage. His jumper with 6:36 left made it 52-39. UW-Oshkosh got three late hoops from Wojahn, who registered the Titans' final points of the contest with 2:54 remaining.

Shaw knocked down a triple just 13 seconds into the game, while Cory Wittwer (Fr. • Fall Creek) answered from deep 35 seconds later. UW-Oshkosh never led by more than two points as Shaw tallied 11 of the Pioneers' first 14 to mark a 14-13 lead. Greg Schrimpf (So. • Manitowoc) dropped in seven straight points to give the Titans their last cushion at 20-18.

Scoring 23, Hanson topped all players and got 10 points at the charity stripe. Shaw tacked on 17 points, Kieler 11 and Wall 10 for the Pioneers, who committed 12 giveaways on the night. Allen marked game-highs with six assists and three steals while grabbing six boards.

Schrimpf topped his team with 12 points as Wojahn contributed 10. D.J. Marsh (Sr. • Bayside), who led the Titans in scoring each of the last 11 contests, recorded eight points and seven rebounds. John Flanigan (So. • Oshkosh) turned in eight rebounds to lead all players.

UW-Oshkosh, which matched its season low for field goal percentage (32.1), converted 18-of-56 shots while hitting 2-of-16 from downtown (12.5 percent). The Titans sank 9-of-13 free throws (69.2 percent) and turned the ball over nine times.

The Pioneers outrebounded UW-Oshkosh, 30-29, to end the Titans' streak of 10 straight games with an edge in boards. UW-Platteville finished with 52.5 percent shooting (21-40), including 40 percent accuracy (6-15) behind the arc and 90.5 percent precision on free throws (19-21).

The Titans look to get back on track when they host UW-River Falls on Saturday (Dec. 12) in Kolf Sports Center.