ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team used a strong second-half performance to upend Wisconsin-Oshkosh 73-63 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
With the win, Elmhurst upped its record to 22-6 on the season, matching a school-record for wins in a season, originally set during the 2000-01 season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
With the score even at 29-all at halftime, Elmhurst took control of the contest in the second half, aggressively attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line 30 times in the game's final 20 minutes.
With the score even at 35-35 with 15:30 left, Peyton Wyatt knocked down a three-pointer that would put the Bluejays up for good. Oshkosh pulled to within a point with just over 13 minutes left to play, but the Bluejays responded with an 8-0 run, fueled by four points from Wyatt, to take their biggest lead of the night at 49-40 with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Bluejays led 51-42 with eight minutes remaining, but Oshkosh began to slowly chip away at the Elmhurst lead. Trailing by seven with 5:31 left, the Titans pulled to within two points with 4:37 left after a three-pointer from Charlie Noone.
Both teams went quiet for the next two minutes until Will Nixon knocked down a 15-foot jumper from the baseline as the shot clock expired to put Elmhurst back in front by four. Leading by four with 1:28 left, Bryant Ackerman helped put the game out of reach for the Bluejays by swishing a three-pointer from the right side.
Elmhurst sealed the game from the foul line by hitting nine of their final 12 free throws in the final 1:08.
Oshkosh (18-10), outshot the Bluejays 40.3 percent (25-of-62) to 39.0 percent (16-of-41), but Elmhurst shot the ball better beyond the arc. The Bluejays knocked down 7-of-16 attempts in the contest to finish at 43.8 percent. Oshkosh hit just 9-of-28 from beyond the arc to finish the contest shooting 32.1 percent.
Elmhurst had a huge advantage at the foul line. The Bluejays went to the stripe 40 times, hitting 34 of them (85.0 percent). Twelve attempts came in the game's final 1:08 when Oshkosh was intentionally fouling to preserve the clock. Oshkosh attempted just six free throws, finishing 4-of-6 from the stripe.
The Bluejays also controlled the glass, winning the rebound battle 39-30. After turning the ball over 11 times in the opening half, the Bluejays did not commit a turnover in the game's final 20 minutes.
The game's first half featured six ties and five lead changes as neither squad led by more than five points. The Bluejays relied on their three-point shooting to keep pace with the Titans. Elmhurst knocked down 5-of-10 attempts from downtown in the first half while shooting just 7-of-20 overall from the floor.
The Titans led 29-25 with just over two minutes left in the half, but free throws from Kyle Wuest and a jumper from Erik Crittenden sent the game into halftime tied at 29-29.
Wyatt poured in a career-high 17 points to lead the Bluejays' in the victory. Wyatt shot 4-of-6 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free throw line while also pulling down five rebounds. Ackerman and Crittenden added 10 points apiece in the victory. Crittenden shot 3-of-5 from the floor and collected a team-leading eight rebounds. Ackerman added four rebounds in the victory. Wuest finished with nine points and seven rebounds while Pat Coleman and Wuest totaled eight points apiece.
Alex Olson paced Oshkosh in the loss with a 14-point, six-rebound, five-assist performance. Noone added 12 points and four rebounds while Boots scored 10 for the Titans.
Elmhurst will face the winner of the St. Thomas/Central (Iowa) contest tomorrow at 7:00 p.m