Senior guard Quinn Steckbauer had a game-high 24 points as the UW Oshkosh men’s basketball team took down La Roche University (Pennsylvania) 77-68 in the Great Lakes Invitational at Wittenberg College Nov. 17 in Springfield, Ohio.
Steckbauer finished the game shooting 8-for-17 from the floor and hit three 3-pointers in 23 minutes on the court.
The only other double-digit scorer for the Titans was fellow guard Will Mahoney, who scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds in the win. Forward Jonah Rindfleisch grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and finished with six points. Forward Joseph Adamson added eight points and six boards off the bench while guard Jay Dalton scored seven points in the contest.
The Titans (2-0) shot 40.6% from the floor and 26.9% from behind the arc. UWO dominated the Redhawks (0-3) in points in the paint (32-16), points off turnovers (18-5) and second chance points (16-8).
Leading the way for La Roche was forward Michael Brooks who scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. Guard Dominic Elliot added 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting while guard Joe Starzynski finished with 11 points and three rebounds.
As a team the Redhawks shot 42.3% from the floor, 31.6% from 3-point land and committed 14 turnovers.
The first half began with nine lead changes, and neither team could build much of a lead until a 3-pointer from Bryce Epps put the Redhawks on top 22-18 midway through the half.
A jumper from Adamson cut the La Roche lead to just two points, but a pair of free throws from Trevor Smulik and a 3-pointer from Brooks gave the Redhawks their largest lead of the night at 34-27.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Steckbauer and Rindfleisch cut the lead down to one point with just under three minutes to play in the half. A Steckbauer free throw tied the game at 34 and nine seconds later, the Titans took the lead after a Michael Metcalf-Grassman nailed a jumper.
The Redhawks retook the lead after a 3-pointer from David Sledge with 25 seconds left in the period, but Dalton converted on a layup with just two seconds remaining to give the Titans a 39-38 lead going into halftime.
After the break the Titans embarked on a 6-0 run to give UWO a seven-point lead following a Carter Thomas 3-pointer. With just under 10 minutes to go in the contest, Jerique Walker hit a jump shot to pull the Redhawks to 57-53. UWO responded by going on a 9-0 run following a 3-pointer from Steckbauer to give the Titans a 66-53 lead.
The Titans took their largest lead of the game a few minutes later when a 3-pointer from Mahoney kickstarted a 7-0 run to give UWO an 18-point lead with four minutes remaining. Oshkosh held onto a double-digit lead the rest of the way to claim their second win of the season.
