The UW Oshkosh Men’s basketball team traveled to UW-Platteville on Saturday night to take on the No. 1 nationally ranked team, and although the Titans led through the halfway mark of the first half, they lost to the Pioneers 79-64.

Oshkosh shot the ball well from 3-point land hitting 8-of-24 (33.3%) to the Pioneers’ 6-of-21 (28.6%). The Titan bench also contributed 17 points to Platteville’s 14 bench points.

UWO Guard Joey LaChapell erupted for a season high 30 points, while also going a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. LaChapell also added three rebounds and four assists to go along with his 8-of-16 (50%) shooting from the field. Reed Seckar scored 13 points with five boards and two assists off the bench for the Titans. Jonah Rindfleisch and Tristan Johanknecht led the Titans with five rebounds each.

The first seven minutes of the contest saw the team trading buckets and Oshkosh gaining the lead at 13-9 with 13:19 remaining in the half. Over the following five minutes, Platteville produced a 13-6 run to gain a 23-19 lead with just under eight minutes left. The Pioneers then closed out the half with an 11-3 run to head to halftime with a 12-point lead over the Titans at 34-22.

Both teams played even to open the second half, scoring 10 by the fourth minute of the period. The score sat at 44-32 in the Pioneers’ favor. Oshkosh then went on an 11-8 run to climb within nine points of the Pioneers at 52-43 with 11:23 to go. Over the next four minutes, Platteville regrew its edge with an 11-6 run, keeping them ahead 63-49. The Titans were outscored by just one 3-point basket in the second half but couldn’t overcome the deficit for a final score of 79-64.

UWO is scheduled to take on the UW-Whitewater Warhawks for another WIAC matchup at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Kolf Sports Center.