The Yellowjacket men's basketball team continued their winning ways on Saturday, traveling down to Oshkosh and coming away with a 64-57 win over the Titans. With the win, the Yellowjackets now sit in sixth place in the WIAC standings.
The Yellowjackets have now won two straight games and swept the season series from the Titans.
The teams went back and forth early with the Titans building a 10-5 lead in the first five minutes. The Yellowjackets then went on a 7-0 run and a jumper by Trent Davis (Apple Valley, Minn.) gave them a 12-10 lead. The seesaw first half continued and the Yellowjackets built up a six-point lead with just under nine minutes to play when Jake Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.) hit a three-pointer to make it 21-15. The Titans, however, would go on a strong 17-6 run to end the half and went to the locker room with a 32-27 edge.
In the second half, the Yellowjackets would fall behind even further early, trailing by as many as seven points before clawing their way back and taking a 42-40 lead on a Dan Culy (Rice Lake, Wis.) three-pointer with 11:27 to play. Two minutes later Culy would hit a jump shot, extending the Yellowjackets' run to 18-2 and their lead to 48-42. From there, the Yellowjackets would bend, seeing their lead shrivel to just two points, but they would never break and would ride a 5-0 run in the last minute to the victory.
Culy and Smith each finished the game with 17 points to lead the Yellowjackets offensively. Marcus Helland (Baldwin, Wis.) also chipped in ten points. Greg Roeder (Mercer, Wis.) had a team-leading seven rebounds while Smith dished off four assists. Smith and Roeder each had one block while Culy and Roeder had two steals apiece.
Cory Wittwer had a game-high 22 points for Oshkosh.
The Yellowjackets (13-10 overall, 5-9 WIAC) will play their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, February 16 against UW-Eau Claire. It is senior night at Mertz Mortorelli Gym, and the seniors on the team will be recognized prior to the start of the game. It is also the fifth and final "Pack the House Night" of the athletic season, sponsored by Domino's Pizza. If there are 500 fans in attendance, then one lucky fan will walk out of the game with a new 32" flat-screen TV, courtesy of Domino's Pizza in Superior. Game time against the Blugolds will be 7:00 p.m. and the game can be heard live locally on 91.3 FM KUWS. Matt Johnson and Monte Stewart will have the call.