Spartans Rally To Defeat Titans In NCAA Regional Final

Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) got an offensive rebound and go-ahead layup from Cole Frilling with nine seconds remaining as the Spartans stormed back from a sizeable second half deficit to defeat the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, 77-74, during the NCAA Division III Championship Oshkosh Regional final Saturday (March 5) in Kolf Sports Center.

Case Western Reserve University (20-6), which is making its Division III Championship debut, trailed by as many as 16 points on two occasions early in the second half before whittling its deficit to 51-48 midway through the period. The Spartans later forged ties at 55, 57 and 60 until they reclaimed their first lead since the first two minutes of the contest at 62-60 with 4:08 left following a pair of Frilling free throws. Frilling's eventual game-winning basket in the paint and two makes at the charity stripe represented his only four points of the night.

UW-Oshkosh (23-4), ranked third in the country by D3hoops.com, answered with eight consecutive points on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Hunter Plamann, an Eddie Muench layup and a Jonah Rindfleisch free throw to reclaim a 68-62 advantage at the 2:30 mark.

Muench drove for another layup to extend the UW-Oshkosh lead to 70-65 with 1:52 to go ahead of two Quinn Steckbauer free throws that upped the Titans' advantage to 72-67 with 43 ticks remaining, and two more makes at the foul line by Plamann for a 74-70 edge with 30 seconds left. However, Case Western Reserve University scored the final seven points of the contest to secure the victory in the first meeting between the teams.

Mitch Prendergast, who entered the national tournament ranked second in the country with a .934 free throw percentage, was fouled from beyond the 3-point arc. Prendergast sank all three shots at the foul line to pull the Spartans within 74-73 with 24 seconds to play. After UW-Oshkosh committed a turnover on the ensuing possession, Frilling collected a missed Ryan Newton layup and laid in what turned out to be the game-winning shot with nine seconds remaining.

The Titans committed another turnover with two ticks to go, and Prendergast iced the game with two free throws with 1.1 second left. Following a UW-Oshkosh timeout, Muench's attempt at a tying 3-pointer was off the mark as time expired.

Case Western Reserve University advances to play in the third round of the Division III Championship on March 11 against sixth-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) (27-2).

Newton led the Spartans with 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench, shooting 9-for-13 from the field. Case Western Reserve University received 44 from its reserves as Hunter Drenth added 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor and Luke Thorburn chipped in four points.

Prendergast finished with 15 points for the Spartans while Robert Faller had 10.

Muench poured in 21 points to pace the Titans.

UW-Oshkosh's Plamann and Steckbauer contributed 16 points apiece. Levi Borchert grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and scored seven points.

Case Western Reserve University went 30 of 62 (.484) from the floor, 4-for-18 (.222) from beyond the 3-point arc and 13 of 15 (.867) at the free throw line. The Spartans, who went into the weekend ranked sixth nationally with a .777 free throw percentage, had an 8-4 edge in blocks. Both teams registered 38 rebounds and eight assists.

UW-Oshkosh shot 40.3% (25-62) from the field, 27.3% (6-22) from 3-point range and 66.7% (18-27) at the foul line. The Titans owned advantages of 11-14 in turnovers and 6-3 in steals after heading into the NCAA postseason ranked fifth in the country with 9.4 turnovers per contest and sixth by limiting opponents to a .274 3-point percentage.

The Titans took a 7-5 lead on a three-point play by Plamann with 17:29 left in the first half and maintained an advantage until the Spartans tied the score at 55 at the 7:13 mark of the second period.

UW-Oshkosh led, 41-27, at halftime and held its largest leads of 16 points at 43-27 after a Cole Booth layup 14 seconds into the second period and again at 45-29 following a Plamann layup with 18:07 to play.

The Titans were making their sixth consecutive and 11th overall trip to the NCAA postseason.

UW-Oshkosh Postgame Press Conference

2022 UW-Oshkosh Men's Basketball Oshkosh Regional Media Guide

2022 NCAA Division III Championship Oshkosh Regional Program

2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Digital Program

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics