The UW Oshkosh men’s basketball team lost both their games last week in tough battles against UW-Platteville on Feb. 7 and UW-River Falls on Feb. 10.
After a 21-point victory over UW-Eau Claire on the road the Titans traveled to Platteville to take on the 14th nationally ranked Pioneers (18-3, 9-1 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) making out a tall task for the Titans (10-11, 3-7 WIAC).
The Titans held their own throughout most of the first half where they stayed within one or two possessions until a small surge at the end of the first half pushed the Pioneer lead to eight with a score of 32-24.
The second half started out hot for Titans where they would begin the half with a 27-8 run, giving them a 51-40 lead with only seven minutes remaining. Throughout the next six minutes the Pioneers would claw their way back and eventually make a three-point shot with 1:03 remaining to take a 60-59 lead.
The Pioneers would close it out in the final minute, winning by the score 66-61, stealing a game away from the Titans whose record dropped to 10-12 and 3-8 in the WIAC. Freshman guard Michael Metcalf-Grassman led the way for the Titans with 25 points.
The Titans would head home for a bout against UW-River Falls on Saturday. The Falcons (12-10, 6-5 WIAC) head into this contest on a two-game losing streak.
Points came in a flurry in this contest, especially for the Falcons in the first half. The score stood at 29-28 with the Titans in front heading into the media timeout with seven minutes remaining in the half. The Falcons took control for the rest of the half by going on a 16-6 run, giving the Falcons a 45-34 halftime lead.
The offense did not slow down in the second half, with each team exchanging blows. A 44-point half by the Titans was not enough as the Falcons scored 43 of their own, making the final score 88-78. Senior guard Will Mahoney led the Titans with 26 points, Metcalf-Grassman chimed in with 22 points for his third straight game of 20-plus points.
The Titans record is now 10-13 and 3-9 in the WIAC. UWO has now been eliminated from WIAC contention by being two games back of sixth place with only two games remaining, the current six-seed, UW-Stout went 2-0 against UWO this season and holds the tiebreaker.
The Titans will finish their season with matchups against UW-Lacrosse on the road on Feb.14, visit the UWO Athletics website for results. They will take on UW-Stevens Point at home for senior night Feb. 17.
