Balanced offense, tough defense takes down #6 UW-Oshkosh

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men’s basketball team moved to 4-1 in the WIAC Wednesday night by defeating No. 6 UW-Oshkosh 72-57 on Bo Ryan Court.

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Balanced offense, tough defense takes down #6 UW-Oshkosh
January 17, 2018

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team moved to 4-1 in the WIAC and 14-2 overall Wednesday night by defeating No. 6 UW-Oshkosh 72-57 on Bo Ryan Court.

A fast starting UW-Platteville (14-2, 4-1) squad jumped out to a 16-4 lead on UW-Oshkosh (13-3, 3-2) as five Pioneers got in on the scoring action early.

By halftime a swarming Pioneers' defense had given up just 17 points to the conferences second highest scoring team, heading into the locker room with a 30-17 advantage.

A quick three by the visiting Titans cut the Pioneers lead to ten. On the Pioneers' next possession Robert Duax responded with a three of his own and UW-Oshkosh never came closer than 11 the rest of the game. UW-Oshkosh improved their shooting in the second half, but the Pioneers had an answer for every Titans basket.

Duax (15), Quentin Shields (14), Clay Gerds (13), Matt Oestreich (11), and Carter Voelker (10) all scored in the double digits for the Pioneers. To go along with his 13 points Gerds posted his first career double-double by grabbing a career high 12 rebounds.

Also the top defense in the WIAC, UW-Platteville kept UW-Oshkosh to a season low 32.8% shooting on the night. The Pioneers held the Titans their lowest scoring game (tied) since December 20, 2015. This is the highest ranked win for the program since November 29, 2016 when they topped No. 6 North Central.

On Saturday UW-Platteville travels to UW-Stevens Point (11-5, 5-0) for a 7 p.m. matchup between the top two teams in the WIAC.