Titans Hold Off Falcons' Late Charge
Levi Borchert had a career-high 32 points and 15 rebounds, Eddie Muench added 21 points and a season-best five assists, and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team fended off a UW-River Falls comeback attempt on the way to an 89-84 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Saturday (Jan. 22) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (15-2, 5-1 WIAC), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, never trailed and owned a seemingly comfortable 81-66 lead with 5:15 remaining before UW-River Falls pulled within 84-83 at the 1:04 mark. However, the Titans got a 3-pointer from Eric Peterson as the shot clock expired for an 87-83 advantage with 33 ticks left, and Quinn Steckbauer drained a pair of free throws 26 seconds later as UW-Oshkosh tallied four of the last five points of the contest.
The Titans, who earned their eighth straight win over the Falcons, defeated UW-River Falls (9-7, 2-5 WIAC) by an 80-70 score Jan. 8 in River Falls.
Borchert shot 14 of 20 from the field en route to notching his WIAC-leading ninth double-double of the season. Borchert, a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American whose previous career high was 25 points, is now averaging 18.3 points and 10.6 rebounds on the year.
Muench went 7-for-12 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range, to record his seventh 20+ point performance of the season. Muench's five made 3-pointers matched a season best for the third time.
UW-Oshkosh featured four double-digit scorers as Quinn Steckbauer had 16 points, Cole Booth 11 and Peterson five. Steckbauer, who shot 6-for-11 from the field Saturday, has scored in double figures on 11 occasions this season, including each of the past six games.
Rodrick Payne paced UW-River Falls with 27 points and nine rebounds, shooting 11 of 17 from the floor and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
Noah Hanson and Regan Merritt chipped in 14 and 10 points, respectively, for the Falcons.
UW-Oshkosh went 34 of 64 (.531) from the floor, 9-for-22 (.409) from beyond the 3-point arc and 12 of 21 (.571) at the free throw line. The Titans held a 6-8 edge in turnovers while both teams collected 32 rebounds and five steals. UW-Oshkosh, which had outrebounded 15 of its previous 16 opponents, went into the night ranked second nationally with 9.1 turnovers per game and committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the 10th time this year.
UW-River Falls shot 53.2% (33-62) from the floor, 21.1% (4-19) from 3-point range and 73.7% (14-19) at the foul line. The Falcons had advantages of 14-11 in assists and 3-2 in blocks.
UW-Oshkosh raced out to a 14-4 lead behind six points from Borchert and 3-pointers by both Muench and Booth. The Titans went on to maintain a cushion of at least five points until there were 13 minutes to play in the contest, leading by as many as 17 points at 40-23 following a Muench 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the first half.
Trailing 46-33 with 91 seconds to go in the first half, UW-River Falls cut its deficit to 46-39 at intermission after a pair of Hanson free throws with 10 seconds remaining in the first period.
The Falcons pulled within 66-64 with just under 10 minutes left, but the Titans responded with 13 unanswered points, including seven from Borchert, for a 79-64 lead at the 6:18 mark.
UW-Oshkosh later increased its lead to 81-66 on a Steckbauer jumper, but UW-River Falls went on an 17-3 run, including a combined 14 points by Hanson and Payne, over the next four minutes to cut its deficit to 84-83 after a Merritt three-point play with 64 seconds left. However, Muench, when faced with a double team at the top of the arc during the ensuing possession, passed to Peterson, who buried the crucial 3-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock expired.
The Titans travel to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday (Jan. 26).
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics