Borchert's Third Straight Double-Double Helps Titans Defeat Pointers

Eddie Muench led all players with 23 points, Levi Borchert had 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team extended its winning streak to three games with a 76-62 win at UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday (Feb. 17).

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 13th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, took the lead for good at 23-21 on a Borchert layup with 7:23 remaining in the first half. The Titans owned a 35-29 advantage at intermission and led by as many as 16 points on two occasions late in the second period en route earning their third straight win over the Pointers and fifth in the last six meetings.

The Titans improved to 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East Division while the Pointers fell to 1-4. UW-Oshkosh, the reigning WIAC tournament champion, remains a half game behind 11th-ranked UW-Platteville (4-1, 4-1 WIAC) for the East Division lead with one divisional game to play.

Muench shot 9-for-18 from the field, including 5-for-12 from 3-point range, and grabbed six rebounds on the way to leading the Titans in scoring for the third time this season.

Borchert produced his third straight and seventh career double-double, going 7-for-10 from the floor and dishing out three assists. Borchert's previous career high in rebounds was 14, established during a 77-68 home victory over UW-Platteville on Feb. 5.

Will Mahoney, Hunter Plamann and Quinn Steckbauer each added nine points for UW-Oshkosh, which also received six points from Cole Booth in a reserve role, and four points, seven rebounds, three assists and a game-best four steals from Eric Peterson. Plamann, who has made each of his 17 free throw attempts this season, went 5-for-5 at the foul line Wednesday and had a game-high four assists.

UW-Oshkosh shot 45.2 percent (28-62) from the field, 34.5 percent (10-29) from beyond the 3-point arc and 58.8 percent (10-17) at the free throw line while owning advantages of 40-38 in rebounds, 14-9 in assists, 11-15 in turnovers, 6-5 in steals and 2-1 in blocks. The Titans went into the game leading the WIAC in scoring (76.7), rebounds (38.3) and made 3-pointers (11.0) per game, average rebounding margin (+5.3), and ranked third in the country by holding opponents to a .197 3-point percentage.

Garrett Nelson paced UW-Stevens Point with 20 points.

Philip Flory, who entered the night leading the WIAC and ranked fifth nationally at 25.3 points per game, had 13 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the floor and 12 rebounds. Flory is 27 of 27 on free throws this season but did not get to the charity stripe Wednesday.

UW-Stevens Point starters accounted for all of the team's 62 points as Zach Mootz added 13, Cliff McCray 12 and Anthony Espensen four.

UW-Stevens Point went 26 of 62 (41.9 percent) from the field, 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) from 3-point range and 5 of 10 (50 percent) at the foul line. The Pointers entered the game with a WIAC-leading .833 free throw percentage.

The Titans jumped out to a 13-4 advantage following a Peterson free throw with 14:29 left in the first half. The Pointers rallied to knot the score at 15 and claimed their first lead at 17-15 on a McCray layup at the 11:09 mark. Tied for the fifth and final time at 21, Borchert's go-ahead basket in the lane started a string of 12 unanswered Titan points that also featured two more Borchert layups and 3-pointers by Steckbauer and Muench for a 33-21 lead with 3:39 remaining in the opening period.

UW-Stevens Point cut its deficit to 42-39 with 14:09 left, but Booth hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the span of 14 seconds and Steckbauer followed with a layup to increase the Titan lead to 50-43. Mahoney drilled a 3-pointer for a 65-54 UW-Oshkosh advantage at the 5:09 mark, and the Titans led by double digits the rest of the way, including 16-point margins at 73-57 following a Borchert free throw with two minutes to go and 76-60 on Muench's fifth 3-pointer with 83 seconds remaining.

UW-Oshkosh hosts UW-Stevens Point on Friday (Feb. 19) in Kolf Sports Center.

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics