OSHKOSH, Wis. (NBC 26) — On a night when UW-Oshkosh desperately needed offense, Will Mahoney stepped up.
The Appleton West alumnus poured in a season-high 23 points off the bench as the Titans beat Hope College, 51-50, to advance to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
It's the deepest tournament run UWO has made since it won the National Championship in 2019.
Neither team led by more than seven in the back-and-forth game that went down to the wire. Hope's Evan Thomas missed a mid-range floater as time expired that would have given the Dutchmen a victory.
Instead, Oshkosh survives and advances to play Rowan University (New Jersey) in next week's regional semifinal round. The time and location of the game are still to be determined.
NOTES
51 points is the fewest Oshkosh has scored in a victory since a 48-46 win at UW-Whitewater on February 16, 2022.
Mahoney has now scored in double figures in each of his last six games, averaging 17.2 points per game over that stretch. He had just two games in double digits prior to that.
Leading by one with 10 seconds left, Matt Lewis opted to foul three times, leaving Oshkosh just shy of the limit and running the clock down to 4 seconds. UWO had just three team fouls in the first 19:50, giving the Titans the ability to give the fouls late in the game without sending Hope to the free throw line.
UWO's next opponent, Rowan, is making its first Sweet 16 appearance since the 1997-98 season. According to Rowan's website, this will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
