Titans Overcome 20-Point Deficit To Stun Blue Devils

Alex Olson gave the Titans their only lead of the game on a jumper with 21 seconds remaining as the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team erased a 20-point second-half deficit and escaped with a 66-65 victory over UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 6) in Menomonie.

UW-Oshkosh (13-8, 6-4 WIAC) roared back from a 44-24 deficit with 19:10 remaining by draining 9 of 13 shots from 3-point range during the second half and closing the contest with a 15-2 scoring run.

Charlie Noone made four second-half 3-point shots, while Olson converted three and Kyle Bolger and Ben Boots one apiece.

UW-Stout (4-16, 0-10 WIAC) lost its 30th consecutive league game since defeating UW-Oshkosh, 57-52, on Feb. 8, 2014 in Menomonie.

A 3-pointer by Olson cut UW-Stout's lead to 54-44 with 11:20 to play and layups by Bolger and Brett Wittchow trimmed the Titans' deficit to 54-48 with just over eight minutes left.

UW-Stout tallied the next seven points to rebuild a 61-48 advantage with six minutes to go and held a 63-51 lead following a pair of free throws by Jalen Patterson at the 4:07 mark.

Olson's 3-pointer with 3:31 left sparked UW-Oshkosh's comeback as the Titans scored on each of their last five possessions and limited the Blue Devils to just two points during the last four minutes.

A basket by Patterson gave UW-Stout a 65-58 lead with 2:24 remaining, but Noone knocked down a 3-pointer with just over two minutes to play, cutting the Blue Devil advantage to 65-61.

Olson found Boots for a 3-pointer – his only basket of the game – that cut UW-Stout's lead to 65-64 with 58 seconds remaining. The Blue Devils' Sam Ortmann missed a layup with 31 seconds to go, but Patterson pulled down the offensive rebound. Patterson was fouled immediately, and he missed his free throw that was rebounded by Boots.

After Olson's jumper gave Titans their first lead, Brett Ahesenmacher's potential game-winning 3-pointer was off the mark with seven seconds to play and Boots secured the rebound.

UW-Stout missed 5 of 6 field goal attempts and both of its free throws during the final four minutes of the game.

UW-Oshkosh ended the contest shooting 52.2 percent from both the field (24-46) and from 3-point range (12-23). The Titans also held a 33-24 advantage in rebounds.

Noone went 5-for-8 from 3-point distance and led the Titans with 15 points, including 12 during the second period.

Olson added 13 points, three assists and a team-leading five rebounds for UW-Oshkosh, which also received 11 points from Wittchow. Boots contributed four rebounds and a team-best four assists.

UW-Stout jumped out to a 12-4 lead on a dunk by John Lahti, but UW-Oshkosh scored eight unanswered points to knot the score at 12. Patterson converted a three-point play to give the Blue Devils a 15-12 lead with 11:16 left in the first half.

A layup by Patterson gave UW-Stout a 31-21 lead, and his dunk extended the Blue Devil advantage to 36-24. A 3-pointer by Cory Speer capped a 12-3 UW-Stout scoring run for a 39-24 lead at halftime.

Patterson led all players with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Blue Devils, while John Keefe recorded 15 points and four assists, and Hank Kujak seven points, four assists and five steals.

UW-Stout concluded the contest shooting 46.3 percent (25-54) from the floor, including 38.5 percent (10-26) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Blue Devils held advantages in assists (17-15), turnovers (16-10), blocks (6-0) and steals (13-4).

UW-Oshkosh returns home to face UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday (Feb. 10) in Kolf Sports Center. The Blugolds defeated the Titans, 67-50, on Jan. 27 in Eau Claire.