Oshkosh, Wis. - In a match-up of nationally ranked teams, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell, 121-115 in overtime, at UW-Oshkosh Wednesday night in Kolf Sports Center.
The Eagles, ranked sixth on this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, drop to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Titans, ranked 21st, improve to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
UW-Oshkosh snapped a four-game losing streak to UWL with Wednesday's win.
The 236 combined points are the most in a WIAC game in league history, breaking the record of 233 set between UW-Oshkosh (133) and UW-Whitewater (100) during the 1968 season.
UWL's
Sam Grieger set a single-game school record with 46 points, breaking
Eric Dudek's record of 43 points set versus UW-Whitewater on February 22, 1995. The 46 points are tied for 14th in WIAC history and the most since Brody Fox of UW-Stout scored 70 against Greenville University (Ill.) on November 18, 2022. UW-River Falls' Nate DeLong holds the single-game league record with 72 points versus Winona State University (Minn.) during the 1947-48 season.
JJ Paider finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Grieger became the 19th player in UWL history to surpass 1,000 career points (1,037) in Wednesday's game.
UWL led 15-13 when it went on a 6-0 run to make it 21-13 with 13:44 left in the first half on a Grieger three-point field goal. UW-Oshkosh cut the lead to 21-16 with an Oskar Kangas three-pointer, but a layup from
JJ Paider, three-pointer from
Sam Ferge and jumper from Grieger extended UWL's lead to 28-16.
The Titans used a 10-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 30-26 with 7:41 left. UW-Oshkosh later trailed 36-31 with 5:04 remaining after a Brandon Beck layup when UWL scored the next five points to make it 41-31. The Eagles took a 52-38 halftime lead on Paider's layup with :57 left.
UWL took its largest lead at 57-38 with 19:17 remaining on Paider's layup.
Dustin Derousseau's three-pointer gave the Eagles a 74-62 advantage with 12:37 left, but the Titans went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 74-71 with 10:45 remaining after Matt Imig's three-point field goal.
UW-Oshkosh took a 79-77 lead with 7:32 left on Nate Nazos' layup. A Derousseau layup and two free throws from
Carson Bauer gave UWL a 81-79 advantage. The Titans later took a 92-87 lead with 2:40 remaining on a pair of Joey LaChapell free throws and Jonah Rindfleisch's free throw made it 93-87 with 2:18 left.
After Derousseau's layup cut it to 93-89, Nazos' three-pointer gave UW-Oshkosh a 96-89 advantage with 1:47 remaining. Trailing 100-93 with :38 left, UWL scored the next six points, including Grieger's three-point play with :13 remaining to make it 100-99. LaChapell made a pair of free throws with :12 left, but Grieger's three-pointer with :01 remaining forced overtime.
UW-Oshkosh never trailed in overtime. Beck's layup opened the scoring in the extra session before a pair of Grieger free throws tied the contest. Michael Metcalf-Grassman and Rindfleisch each converted a pair of free throws to give UW-Oshkosh a 108-104 lead. Grieger's layup cut the lead to 108-106 with 3:30 left and Paider converted one-of-two free throws to make it 108-107 with 2:10 remaining.
LaChapell's jumper with 1:13 left made it 110-107 and Paider's free throw cut it to 110-108, but UWL could get no closer the rest of the game.
Carson Bauer scored 15 points with five rebounds.
UWL shot 50.7% from the field, including 43.5% (10-of-23) from three-point range, and 64.4% (29-of-45) at the free throw line.
Grieger went 16-of-28 from the field, including four-of-seven from three-point range, and 10-of-12 at the line to score his 46 points. The 16 field goals made are sixth in single-game school history while the 28 attempts are tied for sixth.
Derousseau finished with 18 points Wednesday while
Carson Bauer totaled 15 and Paider 14. Bauer went nine-of-nine at the line with Paider recording a double-double with a team-high 12 rebounds.
Devon Fielding finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
UW-Oshkosh shot 53.2% from the field, including 35.5% (11-of-31) from three-point range, and 62.2% (28-of-45) at the line.
LaChapell led five Titans in doubles figures with 29 points while Metcalf-Grassman finished with 26 points. Rindfleisch totaled 13 points, Kangas 12 and Beck 11. Metcalf-Grassman had a team-high nine rebounds.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 10 at UW-Platteville at 5 p.m.
