Pioneers Shoot Their Way Past Titans

Early three-point shooting and late free-throw accuracy sent UW-Platteville to a 78-67 victory over the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team on Thursday (Feb. 3) in Platteville.

The Pioneers (12-8/5-6 WIAC) nailed 62 percent of their shots behind the arc (8-13) en route to 54 percent marksmanship overall. Eric Wall (17 points) marked team-highs of 11 rebounds and four assists for UW-Platteville, which connected on 26-of-34 foul shots (77 percent).

UW-Platteville grabbed the lead 23 seconds into play and never trailed. Wall tallied an early lay-in and two free throws to go up, 8-6. After two long-distance jumpers by Nick Allen, the Pioneers led 19-9 with 11:57 on the clock.

Nate Wara (So. • Oshkosh) knocked down a pair of foul shots and drove for a lay-up to cut the Titans' deficit to 28-17. The combination of Allen and Wall then captured the momentum before halftime. Allen marked five points, while Wall booked seven during a five-minute span to put the Pioneers ahead at the break, 42-23.

UW-Oshkosh (9-11/4-8 WIAC) got two deep jumpers from T.J. Kellner (So. • Sheboygan) to pull within 45-29 early in the closing half. The Pioneers responded with three-point conversions by Allen and Rob Stallion to stretch their cushion back to 55-35 with 12:19 left.

The margin remained in the teens until the game's final four minutes. Down by 14 points, the Titans tallied 10-of-12 points to make the home squad sweat. Following successful free throws by Paul Wojahn (So. • Oshkosh), Cory Wittwer (Sr. • Fall Creek) buried a pair of three-point shots to make it 68-62 with 1:40 remaining.

UW-Platteville hit all 10 of its tries at the charity stripe during the last 53 seconds to seal the contest. Brett Stangel accounted for six of those as he totaled 13 points. Allen compiled 19 points and four assists for the Pioneers, who also received 10 points from Matt Weik.

Wojahn led the Titans with 19 points, while Kellner and Wittwer each marked 12. UW-Oshkosh, which made 19-of-23 free throws (83 percent), also used nine points and seven rebounds by John Flanigan (Jr. • Oshkosh). The Titans turned the ball over eight times, to go along with 43 percent field goal shooting and 50 percent deep accuracy (6-12).

UW-Oshkosh laces up the sneakers for a battle at UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 5) in Menomonie.