Titans Fall to Blue Jays in Low Scoring Game
Aberdeen, S.D.- The UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, ranked No. 3 in the nation by D3hoops.com, fell 2-2 on the season with a 60-44 to St. Joseph University (Conn.) in their first game of the Small College Basketball Champions Classic.
St. Joseph won the tip but couldn't score on their first possession. A jump ball between Cole Booth and Peter Lash kept the ball in Oshkosh's hands, but they couldn't find the basket either. Eric Peterson scored the first points of the game at the 18:36 mark at the line after being fouled. After a short tie at two points, Jonah Rindfleisch put the Titans up again, establishing a lead they would build up to five points before the Blue Jays scored four straight points to pull the game within one at 7-6. A 6-2 run by the Titans, with all six points scored by Peterson put them up 13-8 when Oshkosh called a timeout with 9:20 left in the first half. Scoring picked up for both teams out of the timeout, Oshkosh scored six points straight before St. Joseph went on a nine-point run of their own to make the score 19-17. St. Joseph's Friedrich Feldrappe tied the game at 22 with a layup at 1:23 and put the Blue Jays up by two with 45 second left with a second layup. A free throw by the Blue Jays made the score 25-22 at the half.
Peterson led the Titans at the half with 11 points, going three for four from the field and five for six from the line. Cole Booth was the top rebounder, pulling down three rebounds. Three Titans followed him with three rebounds of their own. Jonah Rindfleisch recorded three blocks in the half.
Tyree Mitchell led the Blue Jays in points at the half with nine, shooting four for seven from the field and one for one from three. Jalen Samuels pulled down five rebounds total, two offensive.
Booth scored the first points of the second half, tying the Blue Jays with a three-pointer from Peterson. St. Joseph took a lead they would build up to twelve points. Hunter Plamann made a three-pointer at 9:03 remaining to bring the score back within nine, 41-32. St. Joseph got their lead up to 13 on a jump shot from Alec Kinder, but a taunting call on him after the basket sent Cole Booth to the line where he made both his free throws to make the score 45-34 with 5:30 left in the game. The Titans scored five in a row with three points from Levi Borchert and two from Quinn Steckbauer, making the score 48-39. The Blue Jays went on a 10-0 run following Oshkosh's run, putting the game out of reach for the Titans. Jake Sullivan scored eight of St. Joseph's points in the run. After a mass sub by the Titans with 1:24 left in the game, they outscored St. Joseph 5-2, but couldn't overcome the gap, losing 60-44.
Eric Peterson, the Titans' sole scorer with more than 10 points, with 16 points. He shot three for six from the field, zero for two from three and 10 for 14 from three. Peterson and Hunter Plamann each had six rebounds. All six of Plamann's were defensive; two of Peterson's were offensive. Plamann also had a team-leading two steals. Booth led the Titans with two assists. Rindfleisch finished the game with four blocks.
Mitchell was the Blue Jays' only scorer with more than 10 points, with 19 points. He shot six for 10 from the field, one for one from three and zero for one from the line. Samuels and Chaylyn Martin each had seven rebounds for St. Joseph.
The Titans will face Nebraska Wesleyan University in the SCB Champions Classic tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. The Prairie Wolves fell to Illinois Wesleyan University 73-67 in the 10 a.m. game on Friday.
The Small College Basketball Champions Classic webpage can be found here.