Related Links:
2017 WIAC Men's Basketball Championship Web Page
NCAA Video Hub (Selection Show)
 
The No. 19 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team got off to a slow start Thursday night and was unable to recover in a 75-61 setback at UW-Oshkosh in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship semifinal at Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh.
 
With the loss, the third-seeded Warhawks (21-6 overall) are eliminated from the conference tournament and will need a Pool C, or at-large, bid to reach the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins next week.
 
The NCAA Division III Selection Show is scheduled to air live Monday on NCAA.com starting at 11:30 a.m. Central Time.
 
The Titans (17-9), who are the tournament's No. 2 seed, advance to Saturday's championship game at top-seeded UW-River Falls.
 
Junior forward Scotty Tyler (Grafton, Wis./Grafton) led UW-Whitewater with 17 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard/forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) totaled 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) added 11 points for the Warhawks.
 
UW-Whitewater was held to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor and the Titans hit 24-of-32 from the free-throw line compared to 11-of-19 for the Warhawks
 
UW-Oshkosh hit seven of its first 10 three-point attempts to take a 31-14 advantage with 8:24 remaining in the first half. UW-Whitewater never led during that span, trailing 15-5 at the 15:26 mark and 24-7 with 12:24 on the clock.
 
The Warhawks cut their deficit to 11 after a pair of free throws by Tyler with 1:17 to play in the half, but the Titans scored the final five points of the period to take a 42-26 lead into the locker room.
 
UW-Whitewater was unable to put a significant dent in the UW-Oshkosh lead early in the second half. The Titans extended their lead to 55-34, their largest advantage to that point, with 11:03 remaining.
 
The Warhawks continued to fight, pulling to within 14 with 6:33 left after free throws by Rongstad and to within 10 at the 3:58 mark after a 3-point play by Tyler.
 
UW-Oshkosh didn't let UW-Whitewater any closer, hitting 8-of-11 from the free-throw line over the final 3:09 to help seal its win.