Titans Run Away From Red Hawks With Late First-Half Scoring Run

Eddie Muench led all players with 23 points and Quinn Steckbauer added a career high 20 as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team closed out the first half with an impressive run and cruised to an 86-59 victory over Ripon College during the final game of the BSN Sports Winter Classic on Thursday (Dec. 30) at Oshkosh Arena.

UW-Oshkosh (12-1), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, finished the opening period with a 24-4 run that turned a 31-23 deficit at the 6:34 mark into a 47-35 advantage at intermission. The Titans went on to lead by double digits for the last 20:03 of the contest in the first meeting between the teams since Ripon College upset then fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh, 83-80, four years ago to the day (Dec. 30, 2017) in Wisconsin Dells.

The Titans' game changing run at the end of the opening half began with 10 consecutive points to reclaim a 33-31 edge. After the Red Hawks knotted the score at 33, UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good at 35-33 on a Levi Borchert layup with 4:02 left before intermission and then scored the final eight points of the period, including the final six on a pair of 3-pointers by Steckbauer and Muench.

Muench, who was named the BSN Winter Classic's Most Valuable Player, and all-tournament selection Steckbauer both shot 7-for-11 from the field and combined to go 9-for-9 at the free throw line Thursday. Muench drained four 4-pointers against Ripon College a day after pouring in a career high 30 points during a 78-56 rout over Calvin University (Mich.). Steckbauer had 11 points against Calvin University before eclipsing his previous career best of 15 points Thursday.

Borchert joined Muench and Steckbauer on the six member BSN Sports Winter Classic All-Tournament Team that also included Ripon College's Ryan Steffes, Calvin University's Marcus Bult and UW-Stout's Lavell Williams. Borchert, who notched his seventh double-double of the year with 17 points and 14 boards against Calvin University, recorded six points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals Thursday.

The Titans featured four double digit scorers Thursday as Eric Peterson and Hunter Plamann had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Plamann had game highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. Jonah Rindfleisch chipped in eight points in 12 minutes off the UW-Oshkosh bench.

UW-Oshkosh went 32 of 59 (.542) from the floor, 11 of 18 (.611) from 3-point range and 11 of 13 (.846) at the free throw line while owning advantages of 32-27 in rebounds, 17-4 in assists, 9-12 in turnovers and 9-4 in steals. The Titans, who have outrebounded each of their past 14 opponents dating back to last season, shot better than 50% from the field for the fifth time this season and produced their highest 3-point percentage since going 21 of 31 (.677) from beyond the arc at UW-Stout on Feb. 17, 2018.

The Titans went into the night ranked fourth nationally at 9.1 turnovers per game. UW-Oshkosh has now committed fewer than 10 turnovers on nine occasions this year.

Ripon College shot 42.6% (23-54) from the field, 20% (4-20) from beyond the 3-point arc and 75% (9-12) at the foul line. The Red Hawks had a 6-1 edge in blocks.

Dominic Galati paced the Red Hawks with 15 points while David DeValk and Owen Theune contributed 10 apiece. De Valk had a team high five rebounds and three blocks. Jaylen Mahone chipped in seven points, five boards and four steals for Ripon College.

The Red Hawks and Titans opened the game shooting blistering percentages from the floor as Ripon College made 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts while UW-Oshkosh was 8-for-10 during the first eight minutes.

Ripon College (7-5), which led by as many as eight points twice in the first half, did not trail until Plamann hit a 3-pointer for a 33-31 UW-Oshkosh lead with 4:42 to play in the opening period. Plamann's long range jumper preceded Borchert's layup that provided UW-Oshkosh its second and final lead of the contest at the 4:02 mark of the first half.

UW-Oshkosh's win Thursday was its first against Ripon College since a 71-56 decision during the first round of the 2002 Division III Championship. The Red Hawks also downed the Titans by a 66-53 score during the 2012-13 campaign in Wisconsin Dells.

Thursday's contest marked the final regular season nonconference game for UW-Oshkosh. The Titans return to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at home against UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Jan. 5) in Kolf Sports Center.

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics