We Are The Champion!
UW-Oshkosh's Levi Borchert hit a go-ahead layup with 54 seconds remaining, UW-Whitewater missed a potential tying layup in the final seconds, and the nationally ranked Titans clinched the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball regular season championship with a hard-fought 48-46 victory in Whitewater during the league finale Wednesday (Feb. 16).
UW-Oshkosh (20-3, 10-2 WIAC), ranked third in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, never trailed after the 12:52 mark of the first half Wednesday but had to withstand a pair of UW-Whitewater field goal attempts during the last 43 seconds on the way to securing its 14th league regular season title and second in the past four seasons. The Titans also earned the top seed – and the two byes that come with the status – for the eight-team WIAC Tournament that starts Friday (Feb. 18) with first round contests.
The Titans led by as many as 10 points at 34-24 with 18:29 remaining in the game before the Warhawks pulled within 38-36 with 12:07 to go and tied the score at 43 with 3:45 left. UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 46-43 advantage 24 seconds later on an Eddie Muench 3-pointer, but UW-Whitewater once again forged a tie at 46 following Gage Malensek's layup and subsequent free throw as a result of a Titan technical foul with 66 seconds remaining.
Borchert then knocked down what turned out to be the winning layup off an assist from Hunter Plamann. Malensek missed a layup on the following Warhawks possession, and the Titans missed an attempt in the paint with 11 seconds to play, setting up UW-Whitewater's final chance.
After a UW-Whitewater timeout, Malensek's left-handed, contested shot from the right side of the lane that would have sent the game to overtime was well off the mark as time expired.
UW-Oshkosh's victory avenges an 82-78 overtime setback to UW-Whitewater (14-10, 7-6 WIAC) on Jan. 5 in Oshkosh and secures the top seed for the Titans at the upcoming WIAC Tournament. The Titans have now won seven of their last eight meetings with the Warhawks. The 94 total points Wednesday was the fewest in the series since at least the 1973-74 campaign.
The Titans earn a double bye into the WIAC Tournament semifinals. UW-Oshkosh will host the lowest remaining seed for a semifinal matchup next Thursday (Feb. 24) in Kolf Sports Center. The eight-team WIAC Tournament commences with a pair of first round games Friday (Feb. 18) and continues with two second round contests Tuesday (Feb. 22).
The WIAC Tournament final will be played Feb. 26. Seedings for the league tournament were determined by WIAC athletic directors with consultation from the head coaches.
Borchert, a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, finished with a game-high 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Titans during the regular season finale. Borchert, averaging 18.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting 62.5% from the floor on the year, shot 8-for-16 from the field and collected eight offensive boards en route to notching his WIAC-leading 12th double-double.
Quinn Steckbauer added eight points in a reserve role for UW-Oshkosh, which also received seven points from Plamann, six from Muench, five from Cole Booth and four from Jonah Rindfleisch. Muench and Eric Peterson both registered four steals. Plamann, Booth and Peterson each dished out three assists.
UW-Oshkosh went 21 of 63 (.333) from the field, 6-for-22 (.273) from 3-point range and 0-for-4 (.000) at the free throw line. The Titans held advantages of 8-16 in turnovers and 13-2 in steals. UW-Oshkosh's steal total matched a season high.
UW-Whitewater shot 38.9% (21-54) from the floor, 16.7% (2-12) from beyond the 3-point arc and 66.7% (2-3) at the foul line. The Warhawks had edges of 42-35 in rebounds, 11-10 in assists and 5-2 in blocks.
UW-Oshkosh, which has committed 10 or fewer turnovers on 16 occasions this year, entered the night ranked second in the country by limiting opponents to 26.2% shooting from 3-point range and fourth with 9.3 turnovers per game.
UW-Whitewater, the fourth team to outrebound the Titans this season, ranked 13th nationally with a WIAC-best .494 field goal percentage. The Warhawks matched their season low in field goal percentage Wednesday and produced their second-worst 3-point percentage of the year.
Elijah Lambert paced the Warhawks with 11 points.
Malensek and Carter Capstran both chipped in eight points for UW-Whitewater while Derek Gray had six points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists, and Jameer Barker dished out a game-best four assists. Gray, who committed seven turnovers, went into the game second in the conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game.
Steckbauer knocked down a 3-pointer for an 11-9 UW-Oshkosh lead, and the Titans did not trail again. UW-Oshkosh held the Warhawks scoreless for a stretch of nearly five minutes during the first half on the way to building a 32-24 advantage at intermission.
The teams then combined to shoot just 17 of 60 (.283) from the field during a second half in which UW-Oshkosh did not lead by more than six points over the final 17 minutes.
UW-Oshkosh won its previous 13 WIAC regular season championships in 1914, 1921, 1925, 1938, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1963, 1967, 1968, 1978, 2002 and 2019.