The UW-Oshkosh men’s basketball team dropped three tough games to close the season, falling to UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point at the end of the regular season, and dropping its WIAC Tournament game 79-72 to UW-Platteville.
The Titans (17–8, 8–5 WIAC) struggled in an 82–63 loss to the No. 21 Eagles (18–6, 8–5 WIAC) on Feb. 18 at Mitchell Hall Gymnasium, marking their third-lowest scoring output of the season.
Oshkosh never led in the contest, falling behind 12–2 after a layup by Sam Grieger and 19–9 following a J.J. Paider basket. The Titans cut the deficit to 19–17 with 7:24 remaining in the first half on a layup by Michael Metcalf-Grassman, but La Crosse responded and took a 39–27 lead into halftime.
The Titans endured a difficult shooting night, finishing 21-for-67 (31.3%) from the field and 9-for-41 (22%) from three-point range. In contrast, the Eagles shot 29-for-65 (44.6%). La Crosse dominated inside, holding a 44–21 advantage in points in the paint, along with edges in second-chance points (14–7) and points off turnovers (13–6).
Metcalf-Grassman led Oshkosh with 19 points on 5-of-13 shooting and an 8-of-9 performance at the free-throw line, adding four rebounds and a block. Despite the setback, he said he emphasized the importance of learning from losses and quickly shifting focus.
“I think watching the game back to understand what went wrong is very important,” Metcalf-Grassman said. “Once we have that figured out, I think it is important to put the game or games behind you and move on. In conference and postseason play, there are many quick turn-arounds, so we need to turn all our focus to our next opponent and the next game.”
Logan Rindfleisch contributed 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting (3-of-5 from three) with four rebounds. Nate Nazos added seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Jonah Rindfleisch posted six points and six rebounds, while Carter Thomas had six points, four rebounds and three steals. Oskar Kangas chipped in three points, four rebounds and two assists, and Aiden Hawkinson recorded two steals and two assists.
La Crosse placed four players in double figures, led by Grieger with 26 points and eight rebounds. Jack Crowley and Carter Wollan each scored 14 points, while Paider added 12.
Oshkosh then fell 71–67 to No. 19 Stevens Point (19–6, 9–5 WIAC) in its regular-season finale. The Titans and Pointers were tied 20–20 after Thomas scored eight straight points, capped by a three-pointer with under eight minutes remaining in the first half. Metcalf-Grassman later converted a field goal and an and-one opportunity to give Oshkosh a 37–36 lead. However, Stevens Point answered with a fast-break layup by Josiah Butler as time expired to take a 38–37 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the Pointers outscored the Titans 33–30 in a tightly contested battle. With under two minutes remaining, Metcalf-Grassman scored five straight points, including a jumper with 40 seconds left, to give Oshkosh a 67–66 lead. Butler quickly responded with a three-pointer to put Stevens Point back in front, 69–67. After a defensive stop, Butler sealed the win at the free-throw line.
Oshkosh shot 21-for-60 (35%) from the field and 8-for-29 (27.6%) from three-point range. The Titans held advantages in rebounds (35-31), second-chance points (11-3) and steals (7–2), but were outscored 44–24 in the paint, 21–6 in bench points and 15–7 in points off turnovers.
Thomas finished with 22 points, knocking down four three-pointers and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Metcalf-Grassman also scored 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added three steals. Joey LaChapell totaled 11 points and six assists, while Kangas had three points and four rebounds. Nazos grabbed a team-high five rebounds, and Jonah and Logan Rindfleisch combined for six points and six boards.
Metcalf-Grassman said he believes the team’s depth remains a major strength entering tournament play.
“I think it makes it really hard to scout and prepare for us,” he said. “When there are so many guys on our team that can score and do a lot offensively, it also takes the pressure off certain guys and allows us to play freely. If one guy has a bad game, it is not the end of the world because we know we have other guys that will step up.”
Looking back on the regular season, Metcalf-Grassman said the team had a lot of big moments.
“I think my favorite memory from the season would be either beating La Crosse in overtime earlier in the year, or more recently, when we beat Stout at their place and I made the game-winning shot,” he said.
As the No. 5 seed in the WIAC Tournament, Oshkosh traveled to face No. 4 seed UW-Platteville at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at Bo Ryan Court at Williams Fieldhouse.
The Titans quickly exited the tournament with a 79-72 loss.
“If we play our style of basketball and are the more physical team, I think we will really like the outcome of our (future) games,” Metcalf-Grassman said. “We just have to play our way like we know how to.”
The WIAC Tournament championship game, which determines the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament, will be played Saturday at the highest remaining seed.
