Titans Finish Off Season Sweep Of Pointers

All five UW-Oshkosh starters scored in double figures as the nationally ranked Titans men's basketball team produced its best shooting performance of the season and never trailed en route to an 86-66 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Friday (Feb. 19) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 13th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, reclaimed a 13-10 lead it would not relinquish early in the first half before going on a 21-4 scoring run for a 34-16 cushion with 4:16 remaining in the opening period. The Titans, who extended their winning streak to four games, went on to lead by at least 11 points for the final 29:19 of the contest.

The Titans improved their record to 4-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East Division. UW-Stevens Point (1-5, 1-5 WIAC) suffered its fifth consecutive loss, including a 76-62 home setback against UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday (Feb. 14).

UW-Oshkosh has now won four straight games over UW-Stevens Point and swept the regular season series against the Pointers for the third year in a row.

Levi Borchert paced a balanced UW-Oshkosh offense with a career high-tying 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field to go along with a game-best eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Borchert now leads the conference with a .634 field goal percentage.

Will Mahoney added a season-high 17 points for the Titans, who also received 15 points and six rebounds from Eric Peterson, 13 points and a season-high seven assists from Hunter Plamann, and 11 points, five boards and five assists from Eddie Muench. UW-Oshkosh's five starters combined to shoot 31 of 49 (63.3 percent) from the floor, including 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Plamann made both of his free throw attempts Friday and is now 19 of 19 at the charity stripe on the year. He also took over the conference lead at 4.20 assists per game.

UW-Oshkosh shot 55 percent (33-60) from the field overall, 54.5 percent (12-22) from beyond the 3-point arc and 57.1 percent (8-14) at the free throw line. The Titans owned edges of 20-16 in assists, 9-15 in turnovers and 7-3 in steals. Both teams collected 33 rebounds.

The Titans' .550 field goal percentage was their best since going 32 of 58 (55.2 percent) from the floor during an 84-60 home win over UW-Stout on Feb. 15, 2020. UW-Oshkosh's .545 percentage from 3-point range was its best since shooting 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) in a 105-95 home victory against UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 22, 2020.

UW-Oshkosh entered the night leading the WIAC in per game scoring (76.5), rebounds (38.8), assists (12.25) and made 3-pointers (10.75) in addition to average rebounding margin (+4.5) and 3-point percentage defense (.207).

UW-Stevens Point's Garrett Nelson led all players with 22 points and dished out seven assists.

WIAC leading scorer Philip Flory had 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Pointers while UW-Stevens Point starters Zach Mootz and Peter Timmerman added eight points apiece. Flory went into Friday averaging 22.8 points per game.

UW-Stevens Point concluded the game shooting 41 percent (25-61) from the floor, 33.3 percent (9-27) from 3-point range and 70 percent (7-10) at the foul line. The Pointers held a 4-1 advantage in blocks.

The teams combined to make each of the first nine field goal attempts of the game as UW-Oshkosh claimed a 13-10 lead following a Mahoney 3-pointer. A Flory layup pulled the Pointers within 13-12, but the Titans created separation with their 21-4 scoring run that featured 10 points by Borchert and five apiece from Peterson and Plamann during a span of nearly 12 minutes.

UW-Oshkosh went into halftime with a 43-26 advantage and led by as a many as 25 points on three occasions during the second period. A Quinn Steckbauer 3-pointer upped the Titans' cushion to 65-40 with 11:03 left. Mahoney and Peterson later scored on back-to-back layups for leads of 79-54 and 81-56 with under five minutes to play in the WIAC East Division finale.

Seeding for the WIAC Championship will be finalized Sunday (Feb. 21).

Postgame Interview (Ricky Nelson) With UW-Oshkosh Head Men's Basketball Coach Matt Lewis

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics