UWO men's basketball improves to 4-1

UWO men’s basketball improves to 4-1

Jacob Link, Co-Sports Editor

November 30, 2023

Morgan Feltz / Advance-Titan — UWO’s Will Mahoney rises for a layup in Oshkosh’s home opener against Illinois Tech at the Kolf Sports Center Nov. 8.

Guards Will Mahoney and Quinn Steckbauer combined for 38 points to help the UW Oshkosh men’s basketball team take down North Park University (Illinois) 69-64 Nov. 25 at the Kolf Sports Center.

The Titans (4-1), ranked No. 25 in the nation by d3basketball.com, shot 43.1% from the field and 48.0% from behind the arc. UWO held the No. 21 Vikings to 44.3% shooting as a team and 13.6% from 3-point land.

Mahoney scored a game-high 20 points on 4-for-7 shooting from behind the arc and grabbed nine rebounds. Steckbauer finished with 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the floor. Guard Carter Thomas added 10 points while guard Jay Dalton scored six points off the bench for the Titans.

North Park had three starters finish in double figures with Phil Holmes Jr. scoring 18 points, Kolden Vanlandingham finishing with 16 points and Shamar Pumphrey adding 11 points. Vanlandingham grabbed seven rebounds while Pumphrey finished with six boards.

Vanlandingham knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Vikings a 5-0 lead, but Oshkosh fought back to take a one-point advantage with 15 minutes remaining in the half after a Matt Imig layup. North Park went on a 9-3 run midway through the period to take a six-point lead, but back-to-back baskets from Mahoney and Steckbauer put the Titans ahead 18-16 two minutes later. Oshkosh maintained the lead until a 3-pointer from Vanlandingham tied the game at 24 with less than two minutes to play. With 46 seconds to play in the half, Holmes Jr. converted on a layup but UWO’s Joseph Adamson threw down a dunk with 26 seconds to go to tie the game at 26 apiece and close out the first half scoring.

The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half until UWO’s Reed Seckar and Thomas nailed 3-pointers which extended Oshkosh’s lead to six points. The Titans saw their lead grow to 11 points with 10 minutes remaining, but the Vikings cut the UWO advantage to 57-54 with six minutes to play. Vanlandingham converted on a layup with 22 seconds left to bring the Vikings to within four points, but two free throws from Mahoney iced the game with nine seconds to play as the Titans hung on to a five-point win.

The Titans will hit the road to take on Whitworth University (Washington) at the Whitworth Fieldhouse Dec. 7 at 9 p.m.