Titans Remain On Heels Of Conference-Leading Eagles

Max Schebel scored the eventual game-winning basket on a scoop shot with 28 seconds left as the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team held on for a 62-60 win over conference-leading UW-La Crosse on Saturday (Feb. 13) in La Crosse.

UW-Oshkosh (15-8, 8-4 WIAC) remains tied for second place in the league standings with UW-River Falls (14-9, 8-4 WIAC). UW-La Crosse (15-8, 9-3 WIAC) still sits atop the league with two games remaining.

The final three minutes, 19 seconds featured eight lead changes. A 3-pointer by Jared Staege gave UW-La Crosse a 54-53 advantage with 3:19 to play for the Eagles' first lead since holding a 9-7 edge at the 13:59 mark of the first half.

An offensive rebound and tip-in by Schebel put the Titans back on top, 55-54, but Ryan Kruser drilled a jumper for a 56-55 UW-La Crosse lead with just under two minutes remaining.

UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 57-56 advantage on a pair of AJ Mueller free throws, but Staege answered with a layup nine seconds later.

Schebel and Staege traded jumpers to provide UW-La Crosse with a 60-59 lead with 54 seconds remaining before Schebel scored the eventual game-winning points.

UW-La Crosse missed a pair of 3-pointers in the span of four seconds, and Schebel was fouled after collecting the rebound of the Eagles' second long-range attempt. Schebel made the second of his two free throws with six seconds to play.

Following an Eagles timeout, Devin Yurk missed a contested 3-pointer well short from the left wing. Austin Fritz caught the errant jumper and banked in the potential tying basket in one motion, but his attempt was less than one second after the final buzzer.

UW-Oshkosh, which entered the game leading the WIAC with 180 3-pointers and a .386 3-point field goal percentage, was held to 2 of 24 (8.3 percent) shooting from long range. The Titans helped make up for their worst 3-point shooting performance in more than four years by outrebounding the Eagles, 35-28. UW-Oshkosh made 1 of 16 (6.3 percent) 3-point attempts against UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 7, 2011.

Mueller matched his season high with 13 points for the Titans, while Alex Olson and Schebel added 12 apiece. Mueller also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds. Schebel, who accounted for UW-Oshkosh's last five points and seven of the last nine, grabbed five rebounds.

The UW-Oshkosh bench, led by Mueller and Schebel, accounted for 38 points and 19 rebounds. Reserve Ben Boots tallied seven points and five rebounds.

Mueller's layup tied the score at 9, and a basket by Charlie Noone gave UW-Oshkosh an 11-9 lead with 12:23 remaining in a low-scoring first half. Another layup by Mueller allowed the Titans to reclaim a 24-22 advantage with two minutes to go in the opening period, and UW-Oshkosh held a lead until the 3:19 mark of the second period.

After leading 28-23 at halftime, UW-Oshkosh held its largest lead of nine points at 45-36 on a basket by Mueller.

Yurk tallied five consecutive points, including a three-point play, to cut UW-La Crosse's deficit to 51-49 with just over five minutes to go. A jumper by Fritz tied the score at 51 at the 3:55 mark.

UW-Oshkosh narrowly outshot UW-La Crosse, 44.6 percent (25-56) to 44.2 percent (23-52). The teams combined for just 18 turnovers, including a season-best eight by the Eagles.

Like the Titans, UW-La Crosse was held to a season-worst shooting percentage from behind the 3-point line. The Eagles connected on just 4 of 23 attempts (17.4 percent).

The Eagles' Staege led all players with 17 points. UW-La Crosse also received 16 points from Yurk and 11 points and seven rebounds from Fritz.

The Titans, who defeated the Eagles by an 80-69 score on Jan. 13 in Oshkosh, swept the regular-season series over UW-La Crosse for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.

UW-Oshkosh heads to UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Feb. 17). The Warhawks (15-8, 6-6 WIAC) defeated the Titans, 66-60, on Jan. 20 in Oshkosh.