UW-Oshkosh (17-4/9-3 WIAC) entered the contest ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com and UW-La Crosse (14-6/9-3 WIAC) 22nd. The loss was just UW-Oshkosh's second in 17 games, with the previous blemish being a 48-47 setback to UW-La Crosse on Jan. 10..
UW-La Crosse, which recorded its first regular season sweep of UW-Oshkosh since the 1987-88 campaign, trailed 27-22 at intermission before outscoring the Titans, 51-35, in the second half. The Eagles' big second-half performance featured 66.7 percent (18-27) shooting from the field and just three turnovers.
Werner, who played only four minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, registered his 18 second-half points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked one shot in the period. Werner finished the contest with 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
Ask, who played 39 of the game's 40 minutes, tallied his 16 second-half points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the free-throw stripe. He made four of his five three-point shots in the period while dishing off two assists. Ask ended the game with 21 points.
UW-La Crosse also received game totals of 13 points, eight assists, five steals and three rebounds from Brandon Brown and seven points from both Chris Fehrenbach and Billy Kegler.
Kerry Gibson scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead UW-Oshkosh in both categories. The Titans also received 12 points and five rebounds from Chad Doedens and eight points, three steals and two rebounds from D.J. Marsh. Doedens was playing in 100th game of his UW-Oshkosh career.
UW-Oshkosh shot 43.1 percent (22-51) from the field, 33.3 percent (4-12) behind the three-point line and 70 percent (14-20) from the free-throw stripe. The Titans grabbed 30 rebounds while committing 30 turnovers.
UW-La Crosse shot 55.3 percent (26-47) from the field, with the accuracy being the highest allowed by UW-Oshkosh this season. The Eagles also shot 45.5 percent (5-11) behind the three-point arc and 72.7 percent (16-22) from the free-throw line. UW-La Crosse collected 25 rebounds and turned the basketball over 14 times.
UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 26-15 lead with 3:18 left in the first half before UW-La Crosse pulled to within five points (27-22) at intermission. The Titans enjoyed their halftime lead despite missing 12 of its last 16 shots from the field.
UW-Oshkosh went ahead 29-22 early in the second half, but UW-La Crosse stormed back with a 16-4 scoring run to take a 38-33 lead with 13:51 to play. Following a 43-43 tie, UW-La Crosse then staged a 19-7 scoring run to take a 62-50 advantage with 2:30 left. Ask totaled 11 points and Werner eight during the Eagles' game-clinching scoring run.