Titans Ferocious Comeback Falls Short In WIAC Tournament Semifinal
UW-La Crosse thwarted UW-Oshkosh's remarkable second-half comeback and held on for a 75-72 home win in a matchup of nationally ranked squads during the semifinal round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship (presented by Culver's) on Wednesday (March 3).
Defending WIAC postseason champion UW-Oshkosh (5-2), the East Division second seed, trailed West Division top seed UW-La Crosse (8-2) by a 56-35 score with 15 minutes left in the second half. The Titans responded with 21 unanswered points, including 11 from Eddie Muench and eight from Levi Borchert, during a span of nearly seven minutes to pull even at 56 before reclaiming a 63-61 advantage following a pair of Quinn Steckbauer free throws at the 5:28 mark of the second period.
A Muench layup extended the Titans' lead to 65-61 with under five minutes to play, but four straight UW-La Crosse free throws knotted the score at 65. Hunter Plamann hit a pair of free throws of his own and drained a 3-pointer that provided UW-Oshkosh its final lead at 70-67 with 2:01 to play.
UW-La Crosse's Wyatt Cook answered with a 3-pointer 13 seconds later to tie the game for the eighth and final time at 70 with 1:48 left. After a missed 3-pointer and layup on the ensuing UW-Oshkosh possession, Cook drove for a layup that gave the Eagles the lead for good at 72-70. The Titans then missed a layup on their next trip down the court, and Ethan Anderson made two free throws for a 74-70 UW-La Crosse advantage with 15 seconds to go.
Borchert scored in the lane to cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 74-72 with 10 ticks remaining, and Craig Steele split a pair of free throws on the other end for a 75-72 Eagle lead, but the Titans' attempt at a tying 3-pointer before the final buzzer was off the mark in a matchup of UW-Oshkosh's league-leading offense and UW-La Crosse's WIAC-best defense.
UW-La Crosse, ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, advances to host 11th-ranked UW-Platteville (7-2) in the WIAC Championship title game Friday (March 5). UW-Platteville, the WIAC East Division top seed, won its semifinal at home by a 67-53 score over West Division second seed UW-River Falls (5-4) on Wednesday.
Muench led all players with 20 points for ninth-ranked UW-Oshkosh, which also received 17 points from Plamann, 16 from Borchert and 15 from Will Mahoney.
Borchert, who paces the conference with a .667 field goal percentage after shooting 5-for-6 from the floor Wednesday, collected 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and eighth during his two seasons with the Titans. Muench, who leads the conference at 3.6 made 3-pointers per game, dished out a team-leading four assists and went 4-for-12 from beyond the 3-point arc. Plamann made each of his four free throw attempts to end the year 30 of 30 at the charity stripe.
Seth Anderson had a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds for UW-La Crosse, which snapped a three-game losing streak against the Titans.
Ethan Anderson and Cook added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Eagles while Sean Suchomel contributed eight points, seven rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
UW-La Crosse, which extended its home winning streak to nine games, went 29 of 56 (51.8 percent) from the floor, 8-for-20 (40 percent) from 3-point range and 9-for-18 (50 percent) at the free throw line. The Eagles held advantages of 18-11 in assists, 9-14 in turnovers, 7-4 in steals and 2-0 in blocks.
UW-Oshkosh shot 38.6 percent (22-57) from the field, 35.5 percent (11-31) from beyond the 3-point arc and 100 percent (17-17) at the foul line. The Titans, who had their five-game winning streak come to an end, were seeking their eighth trip to the WIAC tournament championship game. The Titans, whose 17 made free throws are the most without a miss in WIAC Championship history, had a 36-31 edge in rebounds.
The Eagles claimed a 14-12 edge on a Suchomel jumper with 9:06 left in the first half. UW-La Crosse went on to lead by as many as 13 points on two occasions during the opening period before heading into intermission with a 38-28 cushion. The Eagles maintained an advantage for nearly 20 minutes until three straight Muench 3-pointers tied the score at 56 with 9:43 left in the game.
The Titans concluded the season averaging a WIAC-best 80.3 points per game while the Eagles are allowing a league-low 62.5 points per contest. UW-La Crosse matched its season high by ceding 75 points Wednesday.
2021 WIAC Men's Basketball Championship Website • 2021 WIAC Men's & Women's Basketball Championship Program
Photo courtesy of Jim Lund