The UW Oshkosh men’s basketball team fell to the No. 4 nationally ranked UW-Platteville Pioneers 86-73 at the Kolf Sports Center on Wednesday.
Oshkosh was led by Carter Thomas, who scored a season high 27 points along with five rebounds, two steals and a block in his 40 minutes on the hardwood. Brandon Beck notched 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.
Both teams were very efficient from beyond the arc with the Titans (11-8, 2-6 WIAC) hitting 50% of their threes to the Pioneers’ (17-2, 7-1 WIAC) 53%. The Oshkosh bench was big in Wednesday’s matchup, contributing 25 points compared to Platteville’s 22
Platteville jumped out to an early 17-point lead, putting the score at 23-6 with 11:55 remaining in the first half. Over the next two minutes the Titans climbed back within nine points (23-14) with 9:55 remaining. Oshkosh then got within six after a 10-7 run with just under six minutes to go before Platteville closed the half on a 16-7 run to head into the locker room up 46-31.
In the first seven minutes of the second half, the Pioneers stretched their lead to 24 points with an 18-10 run, putting the score at 64-41. The Titans then halved the deficit by producing a 17-6 run, trailing 58-70 at 6:29. With another 11-7 run, the Titans got back within single digits at 77-69 with 3:01 left in the contest, however a 9-4 run for the Pioneers, including the final four points of the game, closed out the contest
Oshkosh is scheduled for a two game road trip after the WIAC-wide off day on Saturday, the first of which being next Wednesday at Kachel Gymnasium at 7 p.m. to take on UW-Whitewater (9-10, 3-5 WIAC).
