La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team closed the game on a 10-0 run in earning a 66-61 victory over third-ranked UW-Oshkosh Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall on Senior Night. The win moves the Eagles to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The loss ends a 21-game winning streak for the Titans, ranked third in this week's D3hoops.com polls. UW-Oshkosh drops to 22-2 overall and 12-1 in the WIAC.
With the win, UWL locks up the number two seed in next week's WIAC Championships (Presented by Culver's). UW-Oshkosh is the top-seed after clinching the WIAC regular-season title last week. The top-six teams make the conference tournament with the top two teams getting first round byes. First round action is set for Tuesday, February 19 while UWL will host a semifinal on Thursday, February 21 at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Hall.
After UW-Oshkosh took a 61-56 lead with 2:49 remaining, UWL's
Taulvish McCray scored on a lay-up with 2:29 left followed by another defensive stop by the Eagles with 2:16 remaining.
Ben Meinholz hit two free throws to cut its deficit to 61-60 with 1:49 left in the game.
Taulvish McCray had eight points and three assists.
The Titans missed a jumper with 1:22 remaining and the Eagles would get the rebound and capitalize on the offensive end with a Meinholz layup to give the Eagles the lead for good at 62-61 with :44 left. Meinholz and Manning both hit two free throws in final :27 to seal the win for the Eagles.
UW-Oshkosh scored the first five points of the game and never trailed in the first half. After the Eagles cut their opening period deficit to 11-7 with 12:28 left, the Titans went on a 7-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 18-9 with 9:50 remaining in the half. UWL responded with a 6-0 run to trail 18-15 with 5:52 on the clock.
The Titans took a 30-25 lead with :26 left, but McCray hit a jumper for the Eagles as time expired as UWL trailed 30-27 at the half. UWL scored six of the first eight points of the second half to take its first lead of the game at 33-32 on a jumper by
Josh Dahlke with 16:56 remaining.
UWL finished the game shooting 26-of-62 (41.9%) from the floor, including three-of-15 from three-point range (20.0%), and 11-of-13 (84.6%) at the line. Manning led three scorers in double figures as he finished with 14 points while Meinholz added 12 points and Dahlke scored a career-high 11 points off the bench. Manning recorded 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season while Dahlke added a career-high eight rebounds. Manning and Dahlke helped give UWL a 43-32 advantage in rebounds.
The Titans made 22-of-56 (39.3%) shots from the floor, including nine-of-26 (34.6%) from three-point range, and eight-of 12 (66.7%) from the line. Adam Fravert led three Titans in double figures with 21 points while Brett Wittchow finished with 13 and Ben Boots 11.
UWL wraps-up the regular season Saturday, February 16 at UW-Stout at 3 p.m.
