Titans Defeat Defending National Champion Pointers

A string of 14 unanswered points during the second half propelled UW-Oshkosh past defending NCAA Division III men's basketball champion UW-Stevens Point, 64-59, on Saturday (Jan. 16) in Stevens Point.

UW-Oshkosh (10-5, 3-1 WIAC) turned a 48-41 deficit into a 55-48 lead during a span of 4:32 by making five straight shots from the floor, including four 3-pointers.

Charlie Noone got the Titan shooting spree going with consecutive 3-pointers that cut the Pointer lead to 48-47 with 5:05 to play. Sean Dwyer followed with a long-range jumper that gave the Titans the lead for good at 50-48 with 4:24 to go.

The UW-Oshkosh 14-point surge, aided by eight consecutive misses from the field and one turnover by UW-Stevens Point, was capped on a layup from Kyle Bolger and a 3-pointer from Ben Boots with just under two minutes left.

The Titans closed out the victory by making 9 of 10 free throws during the final 53 seconds.

UW-Oshkosh shot 55.3 percent (21-38) from the floor, including 46.7 percent (7-15) from 3-point range. The Titans, who held a 27-22 rebounding advantage, have shot 46 percent or better from the field 11 times this season.

Boots and Noone led a balanced UW-Oshkosh scoring attack with 12 points apiece. Noone also pulled down a team-high five rebounds.

Brett Wittchow added nine points for the Titans, while Bolger and Alex Olson both chipped in seven as UW-Oshkosh had a 28-4 advantage in bench scoring.

A 3-pointer by Wittchow gave UW-Oshkosh a 9-3 lead before the Pointers rallied to reclaim a 16-15 edge on a jumper by Stephen Pelkofer with 4:43 remaining in the first half.

A jumper by Sean McGann extended the UW-Stevens Point lead to 21-16, but the Titans closed the final two minutes of the first half with five straight points to tie the score at 21 at intermission.

Pelkofer drained a 3-pointer to put UW-Stevens Point back ahead at 29-28 with 16:57 remaining, and another Pelkofer long-range jumper extended the Pointer lead to 37-31 with 12:50 left.

UW-Oshkosh cut its deficit to 43-41 at the 8:39 mark, but UW-Stevens Point built its largest lead of seven points at 48-41 on a layup by Canon O'Heron with 6:23 to play.

The Titans shot 63.2 percent (12-19) from the floor during the second half, including 75 percent (6-8) from beyond the 3-point arc. UW-Oshkosh also knocked down 13 of 16 tosses from the foul line in the second period and concluded the contest 15 of 20 (75 percent) at the charity stripe.

Pelkofer led all players with a career-high 26 points and six rebounds for the Pointers. He made 9 of 15 field goal attempts, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

McGann contributed 19 points and five rebounds for UW-Stevens Point, which concluded the game shooting 42 percent (21-50) from the field, including 42.9 percent (9-21) from behind the 3-point line.

The Pointers (8-7, 1-3 WIAC) made all eight of their shots from the foul line and committed four more turnovers (16-12) than the Titans.

Paired with its 50-47 victory over the Pointers in the semifinal round of last year's WIAC Championship, UW-Oshkosh has won consecutive games in Stevens Point for the first time since Jan. 5, 2008. UW-Stevens Point rebounded from last year's conference tournament loss to the Titans by winning six consecutive games and securing the national title with a 70-54 victory over Augustana College (Ill.).

UW-Oshkosh returns home to face UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Jan. 20) in Kolf Sports Center. The defending WIAC champion Warhawks are ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com.