Titans' Late Rally Against Pioneers Comes Up Short

A late second-half surge came up short as the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team lost a 52-47 decision at UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Dec. 10).

UW-Oshkosh trailed 46-30 with 10:10 remaining before counting 15 of the next 17 points to make the score 48-45 with 1:38 left. Alex Olson, who finished the game with a season-high 19 points, scored 11 points during the Titan run on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.

Following a missed 3-point shot by UW-Platteville and a UW-Oshkosh turnover, Boston Johnson converted a layup with 43 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 50-45 lead.

UW-Oshkosh missed a 3-point shot on the ensuing possession and UW-Platteville sealed the victory with two free throws by Trevor Wittwer with 12 seconds left. An Olson layup with one second remaining created the game's final score.

Olson scored his points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 precision from the free-throw line. He also a team-high six rebounds.

The Titans (4-3, 0-2 WIAC) also received six points, four rebounds and two steals from Kyle Bolger and six points and three rebounds from Taylor Jansen.

UW-Platteville (6-3, 2-1 WIAC) got 13 points and six rebounds from Jim Stocki, nine points and two steals from Matt Oestreich and eight points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots from Jake Manning.

The game started as a back-and-forth affair. Leading 13-12, UW-Platteville used a 9-2 run to take a 22-14 advantage with 6:44 left in the first half.

UW-Oshkosh pulled to within 22-19 after a jumper by Andre Wallace and a 3-pointer by Sean Dwyer, but a 9-2 UW-Platteville run gave the Pioneers a 29-21 lead at the break.

UW-Platteville built three 10-point leads early in the second half, with latest being a 36-26 score with 14:11 left.

The Pioneers then used a pair of 3-point baskets by Stocki and another by Wes Nemitz to go in front, 45-28, with 11:07 remaining. The score went to 46-30 on a basket by UW-Oshkosh's Jansen and a free throw by UW-Platteville's Stocki.

UW-Oshkosh shot 40.8 percent (20-49) from the field, including 50 percent (11-22) in the second half. The Titans made just 3 of 14 3-point shots (21.4 percent) and 4 of 9 free throws (44.4 percent).

UW-Platteville posted shooting percentages of 40.8 (20-49) from the field, 29.4 (5-17) behind the 3-point arc and 63.6 (7-11) from the free-throw line.

UW-Oshkosh won the rebounding category, 32-28, while UW-Platteville took the turnover department, 12-13. The points scored established a season low for both teams.

UW-Oshkosh travels to Chicago, Ill., on Monday (Dec. 15) to play North Park University.