OSHKOSH, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team made up a seven-point deficit in 1:21 to force overtime in today's battle against No. 24 UW-Oshkosh, but fell 89-87 in the extra session.

The 9-2 run at the end of regulation saw Geoff Probst (So.-Moose Lake, MN) make a layup with 28 seconds to play as the scoreboard read 80-all. Jacob Schlub (So.-Catawba/Phillips) had started it with a layup and a free throw at 1:21. The Titans made a layup to make the lead six at 1:15. Colin Boone (So.-Eau Claire/Memorial) then had two layups before Probst's exciting bucket forced OT.

In overtime, Eau Claire got a three within the first minute but Oshkosh responded with a 6-2 run as they made all six points off free throws. Dan Beyer (Sr.-Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) had a dunk at 1:20 to bring Eau Claire back up. Yet another free throw at 54 seconds tied it up and two more from the line with eight seconds left put Oshkosh up by two. Eau Claire could not put in a layup in the last chance as Oshkosh rode their overtime free throws to victory.

This is the third overtime game of the year for the 10-11 Blugolds. The other two were against UW-Platteville and Marian College and both were wins. The team is now 4-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Oshkosh is 15-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play.

The first half went to the Titans, especially closer to intermission. Eau Claire was up by one after Boone hit a three at 17:55, but Oshkosh went on a 10-0 run to go up by nine. By 10:45, it was at double-digits with a 19-9 score. At that point, the Blugolds went on a 9-2 surge to get within three. The lead fluctuated between three and seven points until there was about a minute left to play. Matt Miller hit consecutive threes to make it 40-29 and then a layup put it at 42-29, which was the score at half.

Oshkosh shot exactly 50.0 percent (14-for-28) in the first half while Eau Claire outdid them at 52.2 percent (12-of-23). The Titans saw quite a few points from long range (6-for-11) and from the line (8-of-12).

The Blugolds could not miss in the second half, going 22-of-27 (81.5 percent). They quickly got the lead into single digits while making six points in just more than one minute. The home team did push the margin back to 11, but Eau Claire went on a run to make it a game and then take the lead. In four minutes, the team outscored Oshkosh 14-2 and went up 49-48 after a Mark Tiefel (Jr.-Eau Claire/Immanuel) three.

The game was tense for most of the time after the Blugold charge. There were seven lead changes and four ties between 13:13 and 5:51. A Titan three at 5:51 put Oshkosh up by one. On the back of threes and free throws, Oshkosh built it to 78-71 at 1:40. Eau Claire then went on its run at the end of the game to force overtime before falling by two.

While Eau Claire did outstanding in the second half, Oshkosh shot well on a 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) half. They made five threes in the second half. The big stat of the extra session was Oshkosh's 9-for-10 on three throws. They only attempted two other shots, both of which missed.

For the game, Eau Claire shot 37-for-57 (64.9 percent) while Oshkosh made 27-of-57 (47.4 percent). The Titans made 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) on threes. Eau Claire went 5-of-14 (35.7 percent). The free throws really made the difference in the game, as the Blugolds went 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) while the Titans went 24-of-33 (72.7 percent). Oshkosh outrebounded Eau Claire 32-to-24 while giving up one more turnover. Eau Claire's 24 assists easily outdid Oshkosh's 15.

Five Blugolds were in double-figures for scoring. Beyer's 23 led while Schlub and Ryan Shea (Fr.-Duluth, MN/East) each had 12. Probst and Boone each contributed 10. Shea also had seven assists and six steals, which tie his season-best. His five boards also led.

The main three for Oshkosh were Miller (26 points), D.J. Marsh (20 points) an