UW Oshkosh title defense begins now
March 4, 2020
The UW Oshkosh men’s basketball team beat both UW-La Crosse in the semifinal and UW-Eau Claire in the final of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament to secure a berth to the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament for the fifth straight year.
Winning the WIAC tournament gave UWO an automatic bid to the big dance where they will travel to Naperville, Ill. to take on Transylvania University (Ky.) in the first round.
In the tournament final, UWO faced UWEC, whom they lost to earlier in the season at Kolf Sports Center and defeated the Blugolds 78-72.
UWO entered the d3hoops.com Top-25 poll for the first time since week two after taking the WIAC Championship.
Senior center Jack Flynn tosses up a floater over UW-Eau Claire forward Spencer Page in UW Oshkosh’s 78-72 WIAC Championship home victory on Feb. 29. Flynn put up 19 points, eight rebounds and one assist. The Titans will ride their seven-game winning streak into Naperville, IL to play Transylvania University.
The Titans dominated UWEC on the glass as they held a 48-22 rebound advantage and held the Blugolds to just one second-chance point while recording 24 of their own.
That allowed Oshkosh to cover up a poor shooting night as they were out-shot in all facets of the game by Eau Claire.
Senior Jack Flynn led four Titan starters in double-digits with 19 points and eight rebounds while going 5-6 from the free-throw line.
Fellow senior Adam Fravert dropped 16 points and 14 rebounds on 7-7 shooting from the free-throw line.
Other Titans in double-digits were freshman Levi Borchert, who had 19 points and nine rebounds and junior Eddie Muench, who contributed 15 points and five rebounds.
To get to the WIAC final, UWO had to get through UWL first. UWO needed overtime to take care of the Eagles as UWL mounted a late rally to tie the game at 64 at the end of regulation.
The Titans outscored UWL 12-4 in the overtime period as Fravert, Flynn and Muench all scored in the frame to lead UWO to its third victory over La Crosse this season.
The Eagles were held without a field goal as they missed on all six shots they took from the field in overtime.
After La Crosse senior Terek Nesheim picked up two early fouls, Flynn went to work on the inside.
It led to dominant advantages in rebounds, points in the paint and second-chance points for UWO in the game.
Flynn led the Titans with 24 points and 12 rebounds with five of those coming on the offensive end.
Fravert also recorded a double-double as he poured in 23 points and 13 rebounds.
La Crosse guard Ethan Anderson scored 25 points in the losing effort, going 8-13 from the 3-point line.
Two other WIAC schools will make D-III tournament appearances as UW-Platteville and UWEC will play Concordia Wisconsin and Whitman, respectively.
Despite being ranked 23rd in the latest d3hoops.com poll, UW failed to make the 64-team field.
UWO’s first round matchup will take place at Merner Field House in Naperville, Ill. at 5 p.m. on Friday.
The winner of UWO vs. Transylvania University will play the winner of No. 11 ranked North Central College (Ill.) and Adrian College (Mich.) on Saturday.
