UW-L Falls to UW-Oshkosh

For Immediate Release: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse men’s basketball team dropped a 77-73 decision to UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at Mitchell Hall. The Eagles fall to 9-13 overall and 3-10 in the WIAC while the Titans improve to 12-10 overall and 6-7 in the conference. It is UW-Oshkosh’s fourth straight win over UW-L.

UW-L, which lost its sixth game by six points or fewer with Saturday’s loss, led by as many as eight points in the first half at 26-18 with 10:13 remaining. UW-Oshkosh went on a 14-2 run to lead 32-28 with 6:45 left and later led 40-38 at intermission.

UW-Oshkosh led 48-42 with 15:03 remaining before UW-L took a 49-48 advantage on a Trevor Stratton three-pointer. The Eagles later led 59-55 after a Matt DeMars layup, but after a Titans’ timeout, UW-Oshkosh’s Matt Miller and D.J. Marsh hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 61-59 lead with 9:15 left. Miller scored on a layup for a four-point lead, but UW-L later forced a 64-64 tie with 7:06 remaining on Andy Merklein’s first three-pointer of the season.

UW-L took a two-point lead with 6:10 left as Tony Mane hit a jumper, but Miller gave UW-Oshkosh a 67-66 lead with 5:39 remaining after another three-pointer. After the Eagles' Kurt Kincaid hit a layup for a 68-67 lead, Miller hit his fourth three-point field goal of the contest for a 70-68 lead and the Titans never trailed again. Cory Wittwer made it 73-68 with 2:44 left with another three-pointer, but Kincaid cut the lead to two with a three of his own. Dane Seckar-Anderson hit a pair of free throws left with :20 remaining for a 75-71 UW-Oshkosh lead and Miller sealed the win with a steal and layup with :10 left.

Stratton led UW-L with 23 points, finishing nine-of-16 from the field, including five-of-nine from three-point range. Kincaid scored 15 points off the bench, going four-of-six from the field, including two-of-two from three-point range, and five-of-six at the line. Mane finished with 13 points.

UW-L shot 46.7% from the field, including 42.9% (nine-of-21) from three-point range. The team was eight-of-11 (72.7%) at the line.

Marsh led UW-Oshkosh with 23 points while Miller totaled 17. Seckar-Anderson finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and Wittwer had 12 points. The Titans shot 50.0% from the field, including 50.0% (nine-of-18) from three-point range. UW-Oshkosh was 16-of-19 (84.2%) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 11 hosting UW-River Falls at 7 p.m.