Titans To Host Falcons In WIAC Championship Final
UW-Oshkosh seeks its first WIAC Men's Basketball Championship title in 13 years when it hosts UW-River Falls on Sunday (Feb. 28). Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Kolf Sports Center.
Following a first-round bye, second-seeded UW-Oshkosh (17-9) secured a spot in Sunday's final with a 77-67 victory over third-seeded UW-Eau Claire (16-10) on Friday (Feb. 26) in Albee Hall.
Fourth-seeded UW-River Falls (17-10) advanced to the title game by defeating fifth-seeded UW-Whitewater (16-10), 80-66, on Wednesday (Feb. 24) and upsetting top-seeded UW-La Crosse (16-10), 72-61, on Friday.
The winner of Sunday's game will earn the WIAC's automatic berth into the 62-team NCAA Division III Championship that commences next week.
UW-Oshkosh, which will be playing in the title game of the WIAC Championship for the second straight season and the fifth time overall, won back-to-back league tournaments in 2002 and 2003. The Titans, who suffered a 71-57 defeat at UW-Whitewater in last year's championship tilt, have not hosted the WIAC Championship finale since eking out a 70-69 decision over UW-Whitewater in 2002.
UW-River Falls will be competing in its third WIAC Championship final – all in the past six seasons. The Falcons won their only league tournament title with a 64-58 triumph at UW-Whitewater in 2012 after suffering a 79-56 defeat at UW-Stevens Point in 2011.
The Titans and Falcons split a pair of narrow home wins during the regular season. UW-River Falls pulled out a 76-75 overtime win over UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 6 in River Falls, while the Titans slipped past the Falcons, 65-62, on Feb. 20 in Oshkosh.
In the first meeting, Jack Herum drilled a 3-pointer with five seconds left in overtime for a dramatic UW-River Falls win. In the second contest, UW-Oshkosh erased a five-point halftime deficit by shooting nearly 58 percent from the field during the second half.
UW-Oshkosh has won all three of its previous meetings with UW-River Falls in WIAC Championship play. The Titans downed the Falcons by scores of 95-87 in overtime during the 2001 quarterfinals, 86-80 during the 2002 semifinals, and 83-65 during the 2007 quarterfinals.
UW-Oshkosh paces the WIAC in scoring margin (+6.6) and 3-pointers per contest (7.69), while UW-River Falls leads the league in 3-point percentage (.369), rebounding margin (+4.9) and assists per game (12.96).
The UW-Oshkosh rotation features 10 players who average more than 12 minutes per game.
Alex Olson, the only Titan to start all 26 games this season, leads the squad with 12.3 points per game and 65 assists.
UW-Oshkosh's Charlie Noone, who averages 11.5 points per contest, is tied with UW-River Falls' Jon Christensen for the WIAC lead with 63 3-pointers.
Ben Boots contributes 10 points per game off the UW-Oshkosh bench. His .842 (80-95) free throw percentage tops the conference. Boots and Olson also share the team lead with 23 steals.
UW-River Falls is led by Christensen, whose 17.9 points per game and 30 blocks lead the league. His 8.4 rebounds per contest rank second in the conference. Christensen has been the Falcons' leading scorer 15 times this season and their leading rebounder 17 times.
Garret Pearson contributes 14.4 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Falcons, who also receive 8.7 points per contest from CJ Lewis, 7.9 from Grant Erickson and 7.1 from Devin Buckley.
Ticket prices for Sunday's championship game are $9 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, $3 for college students (with valid ID card) and $3 for students (K-12). Children under the age of five are free.