Titans Shine Bright In Win Over Blugolds

Eight players with five-plus points, including four double-figure scorers, lifted the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team to a 74-61 triumph over UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday (Jan. 27) in Eau Claire.

UW-Oshkosh (8-10/3-7 WIAC) took a 14-13 lead on Paul Wojahn's (Fr. • Oshkosh) jump shot and stayed on top the rest of the game. The win enabled the Titans to sweep the season series with the Blugolds for the third time in five years.

D.J. Marsh (Sr. • Bayside) paced UW-Oshkosh with 14 points, while Wojahn added 11 points and six rebounds, John Flanigan (So. • Oshkosh) contributed 11 points and Cory Wittwer (Jr. • Fall Creek) 10.

Wittwer scored five of UW-Oshkosh's opening seven points as the teams were tied at 7 after three minutes of play. Facing a 13-12 deficit, the Titans ran off six straight to go in front for good. Steven Waudby (Sr. • Marquette, Mich.) tallied the last four points of the scoring spurt, including a jump shot that put UW-Oshkosh up 18-13 with 10:56 on the clock.

UW-Eau Claire (11-7/4-6 WIAC) pulled within one point (18-17) on Marcus Ruh's lay-up, but UW-Oshkosh bounced right back with eight unanswered points. Brian Washington (Fr. • Waukesha) and Flanigan both scored three points before Wojahn sank a bucket to extend the Titans' advantage to 26-17 with 5:57 left in the half.

Ruh drained a three-point shot with 2:35 left before intermission, but UW-Oshkosh pulled away with the period's last seven points. Flanigan responded with his own long jumper three seconds before the horn to give the Titans a 35-22 lead at the break.

Amadou Fofana's lay-up closed out a 6-0 scoring run to open the second half and bring the Blugolds within 35-28. Once again the Titans strung together eight straight points, with consecutive three-point baskets by Greg Schrimpf (So. • Manitowoc) upping UW-Oshkosh's lead to 43-28 with 15:22 to play.

UW-Oshkosh's lead varied between 11 (72-61) and 19 points (57-38) for the remainder of the contest.

Josh Prince scored 18 points and Ruh 13 to lead UW-Eau Claire. The Blugolds also acquired nine points, five assists and four rebounds from Colin Boone and five points and 10 rebounds from Geoff Probst.

UW-Oshkosh shot 48.9 percent (22-45) from the field, including 54.5 percent (6-11) behind the three-point line. The Titans shot 77.4 percent (24-31) from the free-throw stripe while grabbing 32 rebounds and committing 12 turnovers.

UW-Eau Claire shot 40 percent (22-55) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-18) behind the three-point arc and 57.9 percent (11-19) from the free-throw line. The Blugolds collected 38 rebounds and committed 13 turnovers.

UW-Oshkosh remains on the road to play UW-River Falls on Saturday (Jan. 30).