Titans Conquer Green Knights For Seventh Straight Win
Levi Borchert led all players with 18 points, a career high tying 18 rebounds and three assists to lift the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team to a 73-54 victory over St. Norbert College on Tuesday (Dec. 21) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (10-1), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, wrested control with a 27-6 run that turned a 23-13 deficit with 9:16 left in the first half into a 40-29 lead at the 19:34 mark of the second period. The Titans' game changing run featured eight points from Eric Peterson and seven by Eddie Muench, including a Muench 3-pointer that extended UW-Oshkosh's lead to 40-29 early in the second half.
Borchert then produced 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds after intermission as UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead of at least 10 points for the final 17:18 of the contest.
St. Norbert College (7-3) had its 13-game road winning streak snapped while UW-Oshkosh upped its home winning streak to 12 games.
Borchert, a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, shot 5-for-7 from the field and 8-for-13 at the free throw line en route to his sixth double-double this season. Borchert, who matched the career best 18 boards he collected during a win at UW-Stevens Point last season, has scored at least 13 points each contest this season and is now averaging 18.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game on the year.
Muench added 14 points for the Titans, who also received nine points apiece from Peterson and Cole Booth, eight each from Jonah Rindfleisch and Quinn Steckbauer, and five from Hunter Plamann. Peterson grabbed nine rebounds while Plamann dished out three assists.
UW-Oshkosh, which held the Green Knights to their worst field goal shooting performance of the season, went 25 of 57 (.439) from the floor, 6-for-24 (.250) from 3-point range and 17 of 26 (.654) at the free throw line. The Titans owned advantages of 44-31 in rebounds and 10-4 in offensive boards. Both teams registered three blocks.
The Titans, who committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the eighth time this season, went into the night ranked third nationally at 9.2 turnovers per game.
St. Norbert College shot 35.1% (20-57) from the field, 20% (3-15) from beyond the 3-point arc and 73.3% (11-15) at the foul line while holding edges of 10-8 in assists, 6-7 in turnovers and 4-3 in steals.
Carson Talbert and Jacob Bolwerk paced the Green Knights with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Talbert tied for the team high with five rebounds.
St. Norbert College scored 10 unanswered points to claim its 23-13 lead midway through the first half, but the Green Knights were held to just 1-for-13 shooting from the floor over the next 10 minutes as UW-Oshkosh went on its game changing 27-6 run that began with layups by both Peterson and Plamann. A Peterson 3-pointer tied the score at 26, and the Titans regained the lead for good at 28-27 on a Booth jumper with 4:16 left in the opening period.
UW-Oshkosh went into intermission with a 37-29 lead following a Muench jumper and led by double figures the rest of the way after Borchert scored in the paint for a 44-33 Titan advantage at the 17:18 mark of the second half. The Titans owned their largest lead of 19 points on two occasions during the second period as Peterson hit a free throw for a 57-38 advantage with 11:31 to go before a pair of Borchert makes at the charity stripe provided the final score with 71 seconds left.
The Titans return to action Dec. 29-30, when they host the BSN Sports Winter Classic at Oshkosh Arena. UW-Oshkosh plays Calvin University (Mich.) on Dec. 29 and Ripon College on Dec. 30.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics