Titans Conquer Vikings In Season Opener

Eddie Muench scored 17 of his game high 24 points during the first half as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team led the entire way during a 90-70 rout over Augustana College (Ill.) in the season opener for both teams Saturday (Nov. 6) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (1-0), ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, scored the first 11 points of the game, including the last six on back-to-back Muench 3-pointers, en route to building leads of 24-10 in the first half and 51-40 at intermission before holding 21-point advantages on four occasions during the second period. The Titans led by double digits for 32 of the game's 40 total minutes.

The Titans shot 55.4% (36-65) from the field, including 45.8% (11-24) from 3-point range, and 63.6% (7-11) at the free throw line while owning advantages of 33-29 in rebounds, 16-14 in assists, 15-19 in turnovers and 10-6 in steals. Both teams recorded four blocks. UW-Oshkosh went 9-for-14 (.643) from beyond the 3-point arc during the first half and 18 of 31 (.581) from the floor during the second period.

Muench was 9-for-17 from the field and 5-for-11 from 3-point range after connecting on 6 of 9 field goal attempts, including 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, during the first half.

Levi Borchert and Hunter Plamann added 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the Titans as Borchert collected a team best seven rebounds and shot 9-for-12 from the field. Plamann was 5-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc and 4-for-4 at the foul line. Plamann, who dished out a game high six assists to go along with five rebounds, has now made each of his 34 free throw attempts since joining the Titans last season.

Eric Peterson chipped in nine points and five rebounds while Cole Booth rounded out the UW-Oshkosh starting lineup with six points, five assists and a pair of steals.

Quinn Steckbauer and Jonah Rindfleisch combined to score 14 points, including eight by Steckbauer, and grabbed four rebounds apiece off the UW-Oshkosh bench.

Augustana College's Dan Carr produced a double-double with 19 points and a game high 14 rebounds. Carr, who went 8-for-15 from the field, also registered two blocks.

Vikings starter Matt Hawkins added 14 points while Nate Ortiz chipped in 10 points off the Augustana College bench.

Augustana College (0-1) ended the gam shooting 49.1% (27-55) from the floor, 33.3% (4-12) from beyond the 3-point arc and 85.7% (12-14) at the free throw line.

UW-Oshkosh's string of 11 straight points to open the game began with a Levi Borchert basket and continued with a Plamann 3-pointer before Muench drained a pair of long range jumpers of his own. Augustana College never got closer than six points for the remainder of the contest.

The Titans went on to lead by as many as 15 points during the opening period, extending their lead to 34-19 on another Muench 3-pointer at the 8:37 mark and to 36-21 following a Borchert jumper 72 seconds later.

Augustana College pulled within 36-30 after a pair of Hawkins free throws, but UW-Oshkosh closed out the first half with a Steckbauer 3-pointer at the buzzer that upped its lead to 51-40.

The Vikings then trimmed their deficit to 53-46 with 17:23 left in the game until UW-Oshkosh put the contest away with a 16-2 run to push its lead to 69-48 at the 13:15 mark. The 16-2 run that spanned just over four minutes featured seven points from Muench and four by both Booth and Rindfleisch. Rindfleisch's dunk off a Plamann pass gave UW-Oshkosh a 58-46 lead with 16:14 left.

UW-Oshkosh owned a double digit lead for the last 16:43 of the game. The Titans matched their largest leads at 69-48 on a Booth jumper with 13:15 to go, at 84-63 following a Steckbauer 3-pointer with 3:58 left, at 86-65 on a Steckbauer layup at the 3:16 mark and again at 88-67 after a Booth jumper with 2:29 remaining.

The Titans travel to Mequon on Monday (Nov. 8) for a nonconference game at Concordia University Wisconsin.

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics