Titans Breeze Past Lakers

UW-Oshkosh tallied 16 unanswered points early in the contest as it pulled away for a 67-38 win over the Silver Lake College men's basketball team on Friday (Nov. 26) in Kolf Sports Center.

Greg Schrimpf (Jr. • Manitowoc) marked all of his game-best 17 points in the first half as he drilled five three-pointers. John Flanigan (Jr. • Oshkosh) contributed his second straight double-double, posting 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The Titans (2-1) also received 15 points from Paul Wojahn (So. • Oshkosh) and four assists from Sam Mageland (So. • Appleton).

UW-Oshkosh bolted to a 10-4 advantage just 5:12 into play. Schrimpf tallied eight consecutive points on a pair of deep jumpers and a mid-range bucket. The Titans then put up a defensive wall, holding the Lakers scoreless for 8:37. Silver Lake College missed nine straight field goal attempts during the drought.

The Titans' game-changing scoring run featured four points by Wojahn. A Schrimpf three-pointer with 8:39 on the clock put his team ahead, 21-6. Back-to-back triples from Schrimpf then stretched the advantage to 21 points (27-6).

Wojahn took his turn as the primary scoring threat, marking seven consecutive UW-Oshkosh points. Following Kanye LaPlante's long-distance basket with 5:13 remaining, Silver Lake did not score before halftime. The Titans tallied the period's last nine points, including four by Brian Washington (So. • Waukesha), to lead 38-13 at intermission.

The Lakers shot 21 percent (6-29) in the opening half and did not attempt a free throw during the first 24 minutes. They slowly cut into their deficit as they received 11 points from six different players. Josiah Elkins converted a foul shot with 12:21 left to make it a 43-25 contest.

UW-Oshkosh had streaks of eight consecutive and seven consecutive points in the last 11 minutes. The first stretch was capped by a T.J. Kellner (So. • Sheboygan) three-point jumper for a 51-25 cushion. Flanigan then battled for two inside hoops and made it 58-27 with 6:10 remaining.

Silver Lake College booked six points on free throws to pull within 29 points (62-33) at the 3:36 mark. The Lakers, who were paced by LaPlante's seven points, finished with 26 percent shooting (12-47) from the field, 3-of-16 accuracy (19 percent) behind the three-point line and 11-of-15 marksmanship (73 percent) at the charity stripe. Zak Zablocki added six points, Dwight Weathers earned six rebounds and Elkins notched five points and six boards.

The Titans turned the ball over just nine times and gained a 47-28 edge in rebounds. They hit 7-of-25 shots from behind the arc (28 percent), in addition to 39 percent overall (23-59) and 14-of-19 free throws (74 percent).

UW-Oshkosh continues its weekend of activity by hosting the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday (Nov. 27) in Kolf Sports Center.