La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 79-74 to UW-Oshkosh Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked 18th on D3hoops.com, drop to 16-5 overall and 5-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Titans, receiving votes on D3hoops.com, improve to 13-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference. 

UWL trailed, 10-9, when it went on an 11-0 run to take a 20-10 lead with 12:46 remaining after Seth Anderson's jumper. UW-Oshkosh cut it to 24-18 with 10:43 left, but UWL scored seven of the next nine points to take its largest lead of the game at 31-20 with 9:11 left on a Terek Nesheim jumper.  The Eagles led by at least six points the rest of the first half before taking a 44-38 halftime advantage. 

UWL shot 59.4% (19-of-32) from the field in the first half while UW-Oshkosh shot 48.4% (15-of-31).  

Ethan Anderson's three-pointer to start the second half gave UWL a 47-38 lead, but UW-Oshkosh used a 11-2 run to force a 49-49 tie on Levi Borchert's layup. The game was tied, 56-56, with 9:58 left when the Titans scored nine straight points to take a 65-56 advantage. Jack Flynn had six points in the run.

UW-Oshkosh led, 74-65, with 1:14 remaining on a Adam Fravert dunk and later took a 76-67 lead with :47 left on Borchert's free throw. UWL cut the deficit to 77-73 with :16 remaining on Luke Norcia's three-pointer, but the Eagles could get no closer the rest of the game.

UWL shot 44.4% from the field overall, including 23.1% (six-of-26) from three-point range, and 85.7% (12-of-14) at the free throw line. After shooting 59.4% (19-of-32) in the first half, the Eagles shot 29.0% (nine-of-31) in the second 20 minutes.
 

Ethan Anderson led the Eagles with 22 points and five rebounds, finishing four-of-eight from three-point range. He was eight-of-15 from the field overall. Nesheim totaled 10 points while Zac Haese finished with nine. Norcia, Sam Burkart and Seth Anderson each finished with eight points. Burkart and Seth Anderson tied for the team lead with five rebounds. 

UW-Oshkosh shot 51.8% from the field, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 71.4% (15-of-21) at the line. The Titans shot 56.0% (14-of-25) from the field in the second half.

Flynn led four UW-Oshkosh starters in double figures with 18 points. Borchert finished with 17 points while Fravert totaled 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Eddie Muench had 14 points for the Titans. 

UWL returns to action Wednesday, February 12 hosting UW-Stout at 7 p.m.