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Men's Basketball

Ben Boots followed Saturday's (Jan. 9) 27-point performance against UW-Platteville with 26 against UW-La Crosse.
Ben Boots followed Saturday's (Jan. 9) 27-point performance against UW-Platteville with 26 against UW-La Crosse.

Titans Return Home To Defeat Eagles

Box Score

Ben Boots scored 26 points to lead the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Jan. 13) in Kolf Sports Center.

Boots, who made 6 of 8 shots from the floor and 9 of 10 free throws, finished one point shy of his career high of 27 established during the Titans' 86-81 win at UW-Platteville on Saturday (Jan. 9). His 53 points in consecutive games is the most by a Titan since John Flanigan totaled 54 in back-to-back contests during the 2011-12 campaign.

UW-Oshkosh (9-5, 2-1 WIAC), playing its first home game since Dec. 8, went on a 21-6 scoring run that turned a 24-19 first-half deficit into a 40-30 advantage with 19:02 remaining. The Titans maintained the lead for the final 24:40 of the contest.

UW-Oshkosh sank 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) shots from 3-point range and ended the game with a .522 (24-46) field goal percentage against a UW-La Crosse defense that ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by allowing opponents to shoot just 37.7 percent from the floor and 26.8 from beyond the 3-point arc.

UW-Oshkosh, which entered the contest leading the WIAC with 103 3-pointers and shooting 39.2 percent from long range, finished with slim advantages in rebounds (29-25) and assists (11-7) on the way to snapping UW-La Crosse's five-game winning streak.

Charlie Noone added 17 points for UW-Oshkosh, which also received 12 points from Alex Olson, eight from Brett Wittchow and seven from AJ Mueller. Taylor Jansen paced the Titans with six rebounds.

UW-La Crosse (8-6, 2-1 WIAC) held a lead for most of the first half after jumping out to a 6-2 advantage. Consecutive layups by Jared Staege and Brendon Manning gave the Eagles a 17-13 edge before the Titans rallied to tie the score at 19 on a free throw by Kyle Bolger.

The Eagles responded with five straight points to build their largest lead at 24-19 at the 6:37 mark of the first period, but a 3-pointer by Noone sparked a 9-0 run that gave UW-Oshkosh its first lead of the contest. Ezeka Omeke followed his own miss with a layup that tied the score at 24, and a 3-pointer by Boots gave the Titans the lead for good at 27-24 with 4:40 remaining in the opening half.

UW-La Crosse trimmed its deficit to 31-30 with 99 seconds to go in the first half before a layup by Olson and a 3-pointer just inside midcourt by Boots at the buzzer provided the Titans a 36-30 advantage at intermission.

UW-Oshkosh scored the first four points of the second half to claim a 40-30 lead, but Devin Yurk recorded UW-La Crosse's next eight points on a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws to pull the Eagles within 42-38 with just over 17 minutes left.

The Titans held the Eagles scoreless for nearly three minutes and extended their advantage back to 49-38 following a pair of free throws by Boots at the 14:25 mark.

Leading 60-52 with 9:11 left, UW-Oshkosh put the game away by scoring 13 of the next 18 points for a 73-57 advantage on a 3-pointer by Noone with 4:30 remaining. A deep 3-pointer at the top of the key by Boots provided the Titans their largest cushion of 17 points at 80-63 with just under two minutes to play.

Staege led UW-La Crosse with a season-high 26 points and six rebounds. He converted 10 of 15 shots from the floor and all six of his attempts from the free throw line. Yurk contributed 14 points and Ben Meinholz nine as the Eagles lost for just the second time in their last 11 meetings with the Titans.

UW-Oshkosh heads to UW-Stevens Point, the defending national champion, on Saturday (Jan. 16).

UW-Oshkosh's Ben Boots Sinks Half Court Shot To End First Half