Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Lydia Gantert Junior Jacob Schlub shoots the ball past a UW-Oshkosh player in Wednesday night's game. Eau Claire beat the Titans in a close game 75 to 62.

After being held on a short leash all night long, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team went on a late-game surge to put away visiting UW-Oshkosh 75-62 Wednesday night at Zorn Arena.

The win puts the Blugolds back at .500 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 12-8 overall, and it also gives Eau Claire its first win against Oshkosh in more than a year.

"I thought our kids did an excellent job on the defensive side of the ball, where this game was won," coach Terry Gibbons said. "I thought our guys came out and played hard every possession against a very good Oshkosh team."

The Blugolds never trailed, but were usually kept no more than about five points ahead of the Titans, who battled through Eau Claire's full-court press and half-court man defense to keep the game close.

Eau Claire led 33-30 at halftime after holding as much as an eight-point advantage over Oshkosh twice in the opening period, and the team continued to struggle maintaining offensive runs throughout most of the second.

It wasn't until the last minutes of play that Eau Claire finally went on a surge to put the game out of Oshkosh's reach. A 14-3 run in the final seven minutes gave the Blugolds a 15-point lead and essentially sealed the win.

"We were just able to put on a nice run on the defensive end and come with the steals and rebounds and then finish on the other end," senior Dan Beyer said of the team's late-game run to put the match away. "All of a sudden I looked up and it was a 10-point game."

The Blugolds had particular trouble keeping Titan junior D.J. Marsh in check, as he led Oshkosh with 25 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

But a more evenly-spread Blugold offensive production helped compensate for Marsh's stellar output. Beyer led Eau Claire in scoring and rebounds with 21 points and nine boards, but he was helped by big scoring performances from a handful of other teammates.

Sophomore Ryan Shea and junior Geoff Probst both dropped 15 points on Oshkosh, and freshman Josh Prince added 13 more.

Continued...

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