Loggers Rally To Chop Down Titans

The University of Puget Sound (Wash.) rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to defeat the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, 90-87, on Friday (Nov. 27) in Kolf Sports Center. Puget Sound entered the game ranked 18th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com and UW-Oshkosh 24th.

UW-Oshkosh (2-2) owned a 65-51 lead with 14:55 to play, but the University of Puget Sound (2-3) constructed a 33-13 scoring run to take an 84-78 advantage with 3:49 left. Nadav Heyman tallied eight of his 20 points during the Loggers' game-changing scoring spree, while Austin Boyce and Kaleb Smith both marked seven. Boyce finished the contest with 17 points and Shelton 16.

UW-Oshkosh pulled to within one point three times during the final 2:16 of action, with the latest being an 88-87 deficit with 42 seconds left. Heyman clinched the victory for the Loggers by sinking a jump shot from 15 feet with 13 seconds left. The Titans missed two shots in the final three seconds, a three-point attempt by Andy Kretsch (Jr. • Manitowoc) and a lay-up by D.J. Marsh (Sr. • Bayside).

Marsh was spectacular in the loss as he scored a career-best 38 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 17-of-18 accuracy from the free-throw line. Marsh also grabbed 14 rebounds to tie a career best, blocked two shots and dished off two assists. Kretsch added 11 points, Cory Wittwer (Jr. • Fall Creek) 10 and Jade Royston (Fr. • Wisconsin Dells) and Brian Washington (Fr. • Waukesha) seven each for the Titans. UW-Oshkosh also received four points and eight rebounds from Luke Miller (Sr. • Elk Grove Village, Ill.).

The University of Puget Sound, a first-time opponent of UW-Oshkosh, took an early 10-9 lead on a pair of free throws by Shelton at the 15:27 mark of the opening period. UW-Oshkosh then scored 20 of the next 29 points, including seven by Marsh, to take a 29-19 advantage with 8:38 left in the frame.

UW-Oshkosh led by 10-plus points the final 7:49 of the first half, with its largest advantage being a 53-38 score with 40 seconds remaining. The Titans shot 59.3 percent (16-27) from the field in the opening half, including 71.4 percent (5-7) behind the three-point line. The teams paraded to the free-throw line 41 times in the first half, with UW-Oshkosh sinking 16-of-18 shots (84.2 percent) and the University of Puget Sound draining 16-of-22 attempts (72.7 percent).

UW-Oshkosh extended its 53-42 halftime lead to 57-44 on a jump shot by Marsh with 18:42 left in the second half. The teams swapped points during the next five minutes as the Titans built a 65-51 advantage with 14:55 remaining. The second half featured the University of Puget Sound shooting 57.1 percent (16-28) from the field and UW-Oshkosh 29.6 (8-27). After missing all seven of their three-point shots in the first half, the Loggers made five of their seven long-range attempts (71.4 percent) in the second.

UW-Oshkosh finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (24-54) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-16) behind the three-point arc. The Titans shot just 29.6 percent (8-27) from the field in the second half. UW-Oshkosh made 33 of its 38 free throws for 86.8 percent accuracy.

The University of Puget Sound wound up shooting 49.2 percent (29-59) from the field, 35.7 percent (5-14) behind the three-point line and 81.8 percent (27-33) from the free-throw stripe.

UW-Oshkosh won the rebounding battle, 38-30, but lost the turnover count, 14-20.

UW-Oshkosh takes to the court against St. John's University (Minn.) on Saturday (Nov. 28) in Kolf Sports Center.