Pioneers Outlast Titans In Double Overtime
UW-Platteville's Quentin Shields made six key free throws in double overtime and finished with a team-leading 28 points and five assists as the nationally ranked Pioneers outlasted the defending NCAA Division III and WIAC champion UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, 91-87, Wednesday (Jan. 29) in Platteville.
UW-Oshkosh (12-7, 6-2 WIAC), which trailed by as many as 18 points early in the second half, went on a 25-4 run during an eight-minute span to reclaim a 65-61 lead, but UW-Platteville held the Titans scoreless for the final 2:56 of regulation and tied the game at 70 following a Carter Voelker free throw with 27 seconds left in the second half. UW-Oshkosh had a chance to win the contest in regulation, but a pair of shots in the lane were off the mark before time expired.
Voelker later made layups on three consecutive possessions to turn a 78-74 UW-Platteville deficit into an 80-78 lead with 27 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Following UW-Oshkosh's second straight turnover during the final minute, Voelker split a pair of free throws to extend the UW-Platteville lead to 81-78 with 12 seconds to go in overtime. However, Fravert, who scored each of his game-high 32 points after intermission, sent the game into a second overtime on his 3-pointer with two seconds left.
The teams combined to shoot 4-for-13 from the field during the second extra session as UW-Oshkosh claimed leads of 83-81 on a Jack Flynn layup and 85-83 on a Fravert basket in the lane at the 1:14 mark. Shields then tied the score at 85 with a pair of free throws and gave the Pioneers an 87-85 lead with another two free throws with 22 seconds to play after UW-Oshkosh was whistled for a technical foul due to calling timeout despite not having one left.
Fravert was off the mark on a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining. Kyle Tuma collected the defensive rebound and made two free throws for an 89-85 Pioneer lead. Eddie Muench then drove for a layup to cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 98-87, but Shields put the game away with two free throws that provided the final score with four seconds left.
With the win UW-Platteville (16-3, 6-2 WIAC) moved into a first-place tie in the league standings with UW-Oshkosh with six games remaining. The Pioneers, ranked 15th in the country by D3hoops.com, also defeated the Titans by a 74-70 score Jan. 8 in Oshkosh.
UW-Oshkosh, which had its five-game winning streak come to an end, now sports a 3-3 record against nationally ranked opponents this season.
Shields, who entered the night leading the conference with an .853 free throw percentage, went 13 of 14 at the line Wednesday, including 6-for-7 during the final 47 seconds of the second overtime.
Voelker added 18 points and four assists for UW-Platteville, which also received 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks from Justin Stovall.
Tuma had 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals for the Pioneers while Drew Gunnink rounded out the UW-Platteville starting lineup with eight points.
UW-Platteville shot 41.2 percent (28-68) from the field, 31 percent (9-29) from 3-point range and 78.8 percent (26-33) at the free throw line. The Pioneers held advantages of 12-10 in assists, 12-19 in turnovers, 9-7 in steals and 6-0 in blocks. UW-Platteville, which tied its season highs in steals and blocks, went into the contest ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense at 62.8 points per game and 12th by holding opponents to a .283 3-point percentage. The Pioneers paced the WIAC in field goal percentage defense (.386) and average scoring margin (+13.9).
UW-Oshkosh went 32 of 78 (.410) from the floor, 9-for-24 (.375) from beyond the 3-point arc and 14 of 18 (.778) at the foul line. The Titans, who had a 47-36 rebounding advantage, have outrebounded 19 of their last 21 opponents. UW-Oshkosh, the first team to score more than 74 points against the Pioneers this season, entered Wednesday ranked 12th in the nation with a +9.2 average rebounding margin and leading the WIAC in scoring (83.8), rebounds (42.9) and made 3-pointers (9.4) per game, blocks (66) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22).
Fravert, who shot 11 of 22 from the field and scored at least 30 points for the third time this year, knocked down five 3-pointers and pulled down 11 rebounds for his fourth straight and WIAC-best seventh double-double of the season. He entered the matchup averaging a league-high 8.1 rebounds per game and became the ninth player in program history with 700 career rebounds, finishing the night with 704 during his four seasons at UW-Oshkosh.
All five Titan starters scored in double digits for the second time this season as Flynn and Muench had 13 points apiece, Eric Peterson 12 and Levi Borchert 11. Borchert and Peterson both grabbed 10 rebounds while Muench had a team-leading five assists. The double-doubles were Borchert's fourth of the season and Peterson's second. Flynn has now scored in double figures in six straight games and 72 times during his four-year career.
UW-Oshkosh scored just two points during the first five minutes of the game but rallied to take its initial lead at 16-13 following back-to-back Muench 3-pointers midway through the first half. UW-Platteville then responded with a 19-5 run to close out the half and went into intermission with a 35-26 advantage.
UW-Platteville built its largest lead of 18 points at 48-30 after a Stovall 3-pointer with 17:19 left in the second half and owned a 57-40 advantage following a pair of Voelker free throws with 13:08 to go in regulation. UW-Oshkosh answered with its 25-4 run, which included 13 points from Fravert and seven from Flynn, during a stretch of more than eight minutes as the Titans roared back to reclaim a 65-61 lead.
A Fravert layup increased UW-Oshkosh's advantage to 70-76 with 2:56 left in regulation, but the Titans missed their last four field goal attempts and committed three turnovers during the remainder of the second half.
UW-Oshkosh returns home to host UW-Eau Claire next Wednesday (Feb. 5) in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans won the first meeting between the teams, 82-66, on Jan. 15 in Eau Claire.