Titans Advance To WIAC Championship Final With Overtime Win
Jack Flynn and Adam Fravert both had double-doubles and combined for 47 points to lead the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team to a 76-68 overtime victory over nationally ranked UW-La Crosse during the semifinal round of the WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) on Thursday (Feb. 27) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-La Crosse's Wyatt Cook sent the game into overtime on a layup with 46 seconds left in regulation as both teams missed jumpers during the final 22 seconds. Flynn drained a pair of free throws 14 seconds into overtime, and UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead the rest of the way. Fravert recorded a steal and a subsequent layup to increase the Titans' advantage to 70-66 before Eddie Muench followed with a jumper for a 72-66 UW-Oshkosh cushion with 96 seconds left in the extra session.
UW-La Crosse (21-6), ranked 20th in the nation by D3hoops.com, had its five-game winning streak snapped after missing all six shots from the field and committing three turnovers in overtime. The Eagles' 21 wins are tied with 1975-76 squad for the most in school history.
UW-Oshkosh (18-8), the reigning NCAA Division III Champion, will host UW-Eau Claire (19-8) for the WIAC Championship title at 9 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 29) in Kolf Sports Center. UW-Eau Claire, seeded third in the conference tournament, split its two-game regular season series with second-seeded UW-Oshkosh. The WIAC tournament winner receives the league's automatic berth to the 64-team Division III Championship that begins March 6.
The Titans, who lost at home during the WIAC Championship semifinals a year ago, are back in the league tournament title game for the seventh time and first since making three straight appearances from 2015-17. UW-Eau Claire, making its first finals trip since winning the 2001 league postseason title, reached the championship game with a 78-74 victory at top-seeded UW-Platteville (22-4), which is ranked sixth in the country by D3hoops.com.
UW-Oshkosh has won seven of its last eight meetings with UW-La Crosse, including each of the three matchups this season. The Titans, who now own a season-best six-game winning streak, previously defeated the Eagles by scores of 79-63 Jan. 4 in Oshkosh and 79-74 Feb. 8 in La Crosse.
Flynn paced UW-Oshkosh with 24 points to go along with a season-best 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks on the way to his second double-double of the year and 20th career. Flynn shot 7-for-14 from the floor and 10 of 13 at the free throw line. He is now tied for fifth in program history with 772 career rebounds.
Fravert added 23 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and three assists for the Titans. He shot 8-for-18 from the field, 3-for-9 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 at the foul line. The conference leader in both rebounds and blocks, Fravert recorded his WIAC-leading 11th double-double of the season and 25th career.
Will Mahoney chipped in 12 points and three assists off the UW-Oshkosh bench.
UW-Oshkosh finished the contest shooting 44.1 percent (26-59) from the floor, 26.1 percent (6-23) from 3-point range and 75 percent (18-24) at the free throw line. The Titans held advantages of 47-31 in rebounds, 11-5 in offensive boards, 13-11 in assists and 5-0 in blocks after entering the night leading the conference in scoring (82.4), average rebounding margin (+9.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.19), and per-game rebounds (41.8), assists (14.1) and blocks (3.4).
UW-La Crosse shot 23 of 60 (.383) from the field, 8-for-24 (.333) from beyond the 3-point arc and 14 of 20 (.700) at the foul line. The Eagles, who were seeking their first conference tournament championship, had a 7-14 edge in turnovers. UW-La Crosse went into Thursday pacing the conference in 3-point percentage (.392) and steals per game (7.6).
The Eagles' Ethan Anderson led all players with 25 points, going 8-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 at the free throw line. He added a team-high eight rebounds and three assists.
UW-La Crosse featured four double-digit scorers, including Cook with 14 points, and Seth Anderson and Luke Norcia with 10 apiece.
UW-Oshkosh did not score during the first four minutes of the game but registered nine unanswered points for a 9-5 lead at the 13:56 mark of the opening period. The Titans held onto the lead until UW-La Crosse reclaimed a 25-22 advantage following a Cook 3-pointer with 6:11 to go in the first half. However, the Titans responded with a 14-2 run that included seven points from Fravert and four by Flynn for a 36-27 lead. UW-Oshkosh went into intermission with a 42-34 advantage after Eric Peterson beat the buzzer with a basket in the lane.
The Titans then led the entire second half until Ethan Anderson buried a 3-pointer for a 62-61 UW-La Crosse edge with 3:14 left in regulation. Mahoney made a pair of free throws to provide the Titans a 63-62 lead, and Flynn split a pair of shots at the line to up the cushion to 64-62 with 65 seconds to play in the second half.
UW-Oshkosh won at UW-Eau Claire, 82-66, during the teams' first meeting of the season Jan. 15 before falling at home to the Blugolds by a 78-76 score Feb. 5. The Titans are seeking their fourth conference postseason championship after winning titles in 2002, 2003 and 2016. UW-Eau Claire, which has a 2-3 record against UW-Oshkosh in the conference tournament, won its lone WIAC Championship title in 2001.
The Titans, who have advanced to the national championship game the past two seasons, secured the first title in program history a year ago with a 96-82 victory over Swarthmore College (Pa.).