Big Second Half Lifts Titans To Win Over Knights
Eddie Muench poured in a career high 30 points and Levi Borchert produced his seventh double-double of the year as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team overcame a halftime deficit and pulled away for a 78-56 victory over Calvin University (Mich.) on the opening day of the inaugural BSN Sports Winter Classic held Wednesday (Dec. 29) at Oshkosh Arena.
UW-Oshkosh (11-1), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, faced a 37-35 deficit at intermission before retaking the lead for good at 38-37 following a three-point play by Quinn Steckbauer with 18:03 remaining in the game.
Calvin University (6-4) pulled within one point on four more occasions during the second half, including at 46-45 with 13:54 left. However, UW-Oshkosh put the game away with a string of 14 consecutive points for a 60-45 advantage at the 9:17 mark and went on to lead by double digits for the final 11:14 of the contest.
UW-Oshkosh extended its winning streaks to eight in a row on the year, 13 consecutive at home and five straight against Calvin University. The Titans have won each of their past five meetings with the Knights since the 2016-17 season and own a 5-1 record in the all-time series.
Muench shot 11 of 21 from the field and 6-for-8 at the free throw line to surpass his previous career best of 27 points established at UW-Platteville on Feb. 3, 2021.
Borchert, a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, had 17 points, 14 rebounds and three steals to increase his averages to 17.9 points and 11.3 boards on the year.
Quinn Steckbauer added 11 points for the Titans, who also received five points apiece from Eric Peterson and Jonah Rindfleisch, and four from Hunter Plamann. Steckbauer reached double figures in points for the sixth time this season. Rindfleisch collected eight rebounds in 16 minutes of action while Plamann led all players with five assists.
All 16 Titans in uniform saw action.
UW-Oshkosh shot 49.2% (30-61) from the field, 25% (4-16) from 3-point range and 60.9% (14-23) at the foul line. The Titans owned advantages of 42-31 in rebounds, 11-5 in offensive boards, 10-9 in assists, 10-12 in turnovers, 8-4 in steals and 5-2 in blocks after entering the evening ranked third in the country with 9.0 turnovers per contest.
Calvin University went 25 of 58 (.431) from the floor, 2-for-10 (.200) from beyond the 3-point arc and 4-for-9 (.444) at the charity stripe. The Knights, who came into the game averaging 79.3 points, where held to their lowest scoring output this year.
Luke Morrison and Thad Shymanski paced the Knights with 15 and 12 points, respectively, shooting a combined 13 of 31 from the field. Shymanski recorded a team leading four assists.
UW-Oshkosh led by as many as seven points during a first half that featured eight ties. Knotted for the final time at 33 with 2:12 to go, Calvin University got a pair of layups from Morrison and Shymanski to take its largest lead of the contest at 37-33.
The Titans maintained a lead that fluctuated between one and three points in the first seven minutes of the second half until erupting for their game changing 14 unanswered points. Muench began the 14-0 run with a pair of layups ahead of a Steckbauer 3-pointer, layups from both Rindfleisch and Steckbauer, and a three-point play by Borchert for a 60-45 advantage at the 9:17 mark.
Calvin University missed eight straight field goal attempts and committed a turnover during UW-Oshkosh's 14-0 run that spanned from the 13:54 mark of the second period until Morrison drove for a layup that trimmed the Knights deficit to 60-47 with 8:37 remaining.
UW-Oshkosh owned its largest lead of 22 points when Nick Spang collected an offensive rebound and scored in the paint with 11 seconds left to create the final score.
The Titans host Ripon College in the final game of the BSN Sports Winter Classic on Thursday (Dec. 30) at Oshkosh Arena.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics