Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team improved to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 85-75 victory at UW-Oshkosh Wednesday night in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans drop to 7-9 overall and 0-5 in the conference.
UWL snapped a four-game losing streak to UW-Oshkosh with the victory. The Eagles also snapped a seven-game losing streak in Kolf Sports Center, last earning a win (70-60) in Oshkosh on February 8, 2017.
JJ Paider finished with 23 points and six rebounds.
UW-Oshkosh took a 10-3 lead with 16:03 left in the opening half on a Jay Dalton three-point field goal. UWL responded with a 8-0 run to take a 11-10 advantage with 13:41 remaining after a
Sam Grieger jumper. The Titans' Carter Thomas, Quinn Steckbauer and Tristan Johanknecht each made layups to give UW-Oshkosh a 16-11 lead.
The Titans led 27-24 with 5:38 remaining when
JJ Paider's layup and Grieger's three-pointer gave the Eagles a 29-27 lead. UWL led by as many as five points in the second half, including 38-33 with 2:06 left on a
Dustin Derousseau layup. UW-Oshkosh cut the halftime lead to 38-35 on a pair of Thomas free throws with :29 remaining.
Dustin Derousseau had 15 points in the win.
UWL never trailed in the second half. Leading 49-46 with 13:07 left, the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 59-48 with 10:03 remaining after two Grieger free throws. UW-Oshkosh scored the next seven points to cut the deficit to 59-55 with 8:43 left on Steckbauer's free throw.
Five straight points from Paider gave UWL a 64-55 advantage. Will Mahoney's layup for UW-Oshkosh cut it to 64-57, but Paider and
Dustin Derousseau delivered layups for a 68-57 lead. UWL led by as many as 13 points while UW-Oshkosh could get no closer than eight points in the final 4:38.
UWL shot 50.0% from the field on Wednesday, including 27.3% (three-of-11) from three-point range, and 62.1% (18-of-29) at the free throw line. Paider led the Eagles with 23 points, going 11-of-16 from the field and one-of-three at the line. He added a team-high six rebounds. Grieger finished with 16 points off the bench while Derousseau totaled 15 points and
Will Fuhrmann 12.
UW-Oshkosh shot 47.5% from the field, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 68.4% (13-of-19) at the line. Michael Metcalf-Grassman led the Titans with 14 points and nine rebounds. Mahoney finished with 13 points while Thomas had 12 and Steckbauer 10.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 20 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 6 p.m.
