Despite Loss, Titans Remain Alive In WIAC Title Chase
Cole Van Schyndel had a game-high 14 points and 10 rebounds to propel the UW-Whitewater men's basketball team to a 70-61 victory over UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday (Feb. 17) in Whitewater.
Van Schyndel, who entered the game leading the WIAC with a .633 field goal percentage, made 5 of 7 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 free throws on the way to notching his second double-double of the season.
Marquise Turner added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Warhawks, while Nate Hensel and Haki Stampley chipped in 10 points apiece. Trinson White contributed seven points, six rebounds, a game-high four assists and two steals.
UW-Whitewater (16-8, 7-6 WIAC), which has won three straight games, clinched a berth into the six-team WIAC Championship that commences next week.
Despite the loss, UW-Oshkosh (15-9, 8-5 WIAC) can earn a share of the conference title and a bye in the league tournament with a win at home in the regular-season finale against UW-River Falls (15-9, 9-4 WIAC) and a UW-La Crosse (15-9, 9-4 WIAC) loss to UW-Stevens Point (14-10, 7-6 WIAC) on Saturday (Feb. 20).
UW-Whitewater jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but UW-Oshkosh responded with 10 unanswered points to claim a 14-11 advantage with just over nine minutes left in the first half. Van Schyndel then gave the Warhawks the lead for good at 15-14 on a layup at the 7:12 mark of the opening stanza.
The Warhawks went on a 13-3 scoring run, building their largest lead of 11 points at 28-17 with 3:30 remaining in the first half, but a 3-pointer by Brett Wittchow trimmed the UW-Oshkosh deficit to 32-25 at intermission.
A layup by Max Schebel pulled the Titans within 34-33 early in the second half, but a 3-pointer by Turner provided the Warhawks a 43-37 lead. UW-Whitewater hung on and led by at least four points for the final 12:43 of the contest.
A basket by Alex Olson cut UW-Whitewater's lead to 49-45 with 8:37 to play before the Warhawks scored eight of the next 11 points to extend their advantage to 57-48 with just over three minutes remaining.
Clinging to a 58-52 lead, UW-Whitewater secured the victory by converting 10 of 12 free throws during the final 86 seconds.
UW-Oshkosh outshot UW-Whitewater, 44.4 percent (24-54) to 42.9 percent (21-49), from the field, but the Warhawks connected on eight 3-pointers and made 20 of 25 (80 percent) tosses from the foul line. The Titans, who entered the game leading the WIAC with 182 3-pointers, mustered just four long-range jumpers on 11 tries (36.3 percent) and went 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Warhawks also held advantages in rebounds (38-31), assists (12-7) and blocks (4-2), while the Titans led in turnovers (14-11) and steals (7-4).
Olson paced UW-Oshkosh with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. Schebel added nine points and four rebounds for the Titans, who also received eight points from Charlie Noone, seven points and five rebounds from Wittchow, and seven points from Ben Boots.
In Saturday's regular-season finale, UW-Oshkosh seeks to avenge a 76-75 overtime loss at UW-River Falls on Jan. 6.
Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, UW-Whitewater Athletics