EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team never had the lead today as it fell 77-54 to eighth-ranked UW-Oshkosh.

Eau Claire is 3-11 in the conference and 10-13 overall. It sits eighth in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) standings with UW-Stout and UW-River Falls above the Blugolds at 5-10 in the conference. The Blugolds have two conference games left while both Stout and River Falls have one each. Oshkosh, second in the WIAC standings, is now 11-3 in conference play and 19-4 overall.

The Titans got off to a 6-0 start at 17:53 before Eau Claire came back to within two. The Titans than built a 12-4 deficit before the Blugolds again crawled to within two at 9:44 with a 15-13 score. However, Oshkosh then took the game into its hands and increased the lead to double digits for good at 6:14. The Titans outscored Eau Claire 22-to-7 over the last 10 minutes of the first half as they went into halftime ahead 37-20.

Eau Claire shot 38.1% while going 1-of-4 on threes and 3-of-6 from the line. Oshkosh made 61.5% from the floor while making 3-of-6 three-pointers and 2-of-3 free throws. The Titans also had 26 first half points in the paint compared to 10 for Eau Claire.

The second half lead stayed around 20 until the Blugolds pecked it down to 12 at 11:57 after a Geoff Probst (Fr.-Moose Lake, MN/U. of North Dakota) three. However, it was as close as the Blugolds would get in the second half. The lead went back to 20 by 9:21. At 8:40 it grew to 24, tied for the largest deficit of the day. It went back down to 18 at 6:46 after a Jared Supalla (Sr.-Eden Prairie, MN) three-point play, but it again grew to 24 by 2:53 before the game ended 77-54.

Eau Claire's shooting percentage was 45.8% while its long range mark was 50.0%. It also went 4-of-10 from the line. Oshkosh shot 52.9% for the game while hitting 45.5% of its threes. It also made 18-of-21 free throws with an 85.7% percentage, both tying for the second most an Eau Claire opponent has had this season. Oshkosh also made 18-of-21 from the line with an 85.7% percentage January 6th against Eau Claire. Of today's 18 makes, 16 came in the second half.

The Titans dominated the boards, collecting 36 rebounds to the Blugold 19. It is the least rebounds Eau Claire has grabbed this season. The Titans also made good use of the rebounds, outscoring the Blugolds 17-to-2 on second chance points. The Titans also had 40 points in the paint while Eau Claire had 26. The turnovers were even at 10-to-10.

Jared Bardon (Jr.-DeForest) led all scorers with 18 points. Dan Beyer (Jr.-Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) also was in double figures with 10.

D.J. Marsh led the Titans with 15 points, but there were five others in double digits. Jordan Johnson tallied 14 while a pair collected 12 and another pair had 10.

The Titans have won six straight against the Blugolds as well as 12 of the last 13. The all-time record is 69-40 Blugolds.

Wednesday the Blugolds will face UW-Superior, ranked ninth in the WIAC. The game is also Senior Night at Zorn Arena. Action will begin at 7 p.m..

Eau Claire-Oshkosh Box Score

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