By Dalton Hessel, UWEC Sports Information
In what looked to be another heavyweight battle in the WIAC between the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh men's basketball teams surely did not disappoint on Friday night at Albee Hall in Oshkosh. Unfortunately, Oshkosh was where the Blugolds WIAC tournament run came to an end by a score of 67-77.
Although it took a little while for the Blugolds to get rolling on offense, guards Jack Martinek (Jr. New Brighton, MN/Irondale) and George Diekelman (So. – Stevens Point, WI/SPASH) carried over their successes from Wednesday night's game against the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and each put up seven points apiece in the first half. The Blugolds led for most of the first half and led going into halftime by a score of 32-29.
Coming out of halftime, the Blugolds struggled offensively and missed some key scoring opportunities, but they only trailed by a score of 42-51 at the half waypoint in the second half. Forward Jared Schneidermann (Jr.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Concordia Academy) continued to clean the glass for the Blugolds and kept them in the game by pulling down 11 rebounds on the night. Despite the Blugolds best efforts at a comeback victory, they came up short at the end by a final score of 67-77.
The Blugolds finished the season with an overall record of 17-10 and finished tied for second place in the WIAC.
