Pioneers’ second half rally falls short at WIAC Title game in Oshkosh

OSHKOSH, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team fell just short of overcoming a ten-point halftime deficit in Saturday’s 75-73 loss to WIAC Tournament top seed UW-Oshkosh in the Championship game in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans punched their ticket into the NCAA Division III Tournament, capturing the league's automatic bid while the Pioneers must await word on an at-large bid to advance to the tournament.

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Pioneers’ second half rally falls short at WIAC Title game in Oshkosh
February 26, 2022

OSHKOSH, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team fell just short of overcoming a ten-point halftime deficit in Saturday's 75-73 loss to WIAC Tournament top seed UW-Oshkosh in the Championship game in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans punched their ticket into the NCAA Division III Tournament, capturing the league's automatic bid while the Pioneers must await word on an at-large bid to advance to the tournament.

The Pioneers, ranked No. 6 by D3hoops.com drop to 21-5 after their third loss to the Titans this season while No. 3 UW-Oshkosh improves to 22-3 and secures their fifth tournament title and second in three seasons.

Kyle Tuma (Sr./Valders, Wis.) tallied a game high 23 points and 15 rebounds for a 12th double-double of the season.

"Defensively we did not do a good enough job defending the paint and finishing out possessions. This time of year the margin of error is so small that you have to be efficient in the little details on both ends of the floor," said head coach Jeff Gard. "However, this group is resilient and kept fighting and had our opportunities down the stretch. As much as this loss stings right now, I know it'll add a little extra fuel to the fire."

The Pioneers jumped out to their largest lead of the night, 11-4 six minutes into the game while capitalizing on missed opportunities by the Titans, but by 4:12, UW-Oshkosh took its first double-digit lead, 32-22.

UW-Platteville trailed 39-29 at the half and the Titans held on to a three-possession lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Tuma's layup at the 8:57 mark sparked a momentum shift and Quentin Shield's (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) knocked down a three-pointer at the 3:40 mark to cut the Titans' lead to 65-61. Justin Stovall (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) made both free-throws at the 3:15 to make it a two-point game.

With two players fouled out including forward and leading scorer, Levi Brochert, UW-Oshkosh held on to 72-70 lead with 0:31 to go and extended the lead to four before Shields hit another three at 0:18 to cut the Titans' lead to 74-73. UW-Oshkosh's Eddie Muench made one of two free throws at 0:09 and the Pioneers attempted to send the game to overtime, but the jump shot at the horn missed.

Shields' 21 points moved the Pioneer into the second spot on the program's all-time leading scorer list, surpassing Tyler Selk's 1,621 mark.

Brochert tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Overall, the Pioneers shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field including 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range. The Titans shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) and made 5-of-18 (27.8) from beyond the arc.

UW-Platteville was 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) for free throws and UW-Oshkosh shot 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the foul line.

The Titans scored 40 points in the paint to the Pioneers' 30 and held a 37-35 advantage in rebounds.

UW-Platteville must now await official word on an at-large bid. The NCAA DIII Selection Show will take place on Monday, Feb. 28 at 11:30 a.m. CST. There will be a selection show viewing party on campus in the Markee Pioneer Student Center.