The Pioneers men’s basketball team defeated University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 74-69 in overtime Jan. 25, marking the Pioneers second overtime win of the season.

The game was back and forth through the first 11 minutes of action; the largest lead held by either team was a four-point advantage by UW-Oshkosh. Near the end of the first half, however, UW-Oshkosh was able to increase its lead to 16 with two minutes to play. The Pioneers closed out the half on a 7-0 run, aided by a last-second 3-pointer by sophomore forward Chas Cross.

“We really focused on picking up our intensity,” said head coach Jeff Gard. “We needed to pick up our pressure on the perimeter because they were shooting so well. We had to play more pressure defense and help each other on defense longer.”

The Pioneers came out hot in the second half, scoring the first six points of the half, cutting the UW-Oshkosh lead to three. At the 14:30 mark of the second half, the game was tied, but again the Titans went on a run to take the lead by six. This run was immediately answered by Pioneers senior Brett Stangel hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to knot the game up.

The end of the second half resembled the beginning of the game, with neither team taking the lead by more than three. Cross came up big for the Pioneers at the end of the half by blocking what could have been the game-winning shot for the Titans.

“At the end of the game we were kind of in scramble mode not wanting to give up anything easy around the basket,” Cross said about the block. “Our defensive rotations were good, which helped me slide over in time to take away the potential game-winning shot.”

In overtime, the Pioneers took the advantage early. Stangel and Cross, who combined for 11 of the 12 Pioneers points in OT, put in consecutive buckets to put the Pioneers ahead by four, and the team didn’t look back.

Stangel finished the game with a game-high 27 points, bolstered by a 7-14 performance from 3-point range, tying a university record for 3-pointers in a game. He also led the team with three steals. Cross ended the contest with 26 points, making 11 of his 13 shots from the field.

“It was nice to see us battle back from being down 16,” Stangel wrote in an e-mail. “We never gave up and kept fighting and slowly crept back into the game and ended up pulling out the win. We really figured out how to score against their zone in the second half but our defense was key to keeping us in the game when shots were not falling.”

The Pioneers have six more games this season, three of which are at Williams Fieldhouse, and are fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

“We have to take it day by day,” Gard said. “We have to get better every practice. One of our sayings is, ‘Make an impact.’ If you’re a scout team guy or a starter, make an impact however you can.”

Pioneers 133-pound wrestler T.J. Wunnicke named WIAC Wrestler of the Week for third time this season.

Football

Defensive coordinator and UW-Platteville graduate Rob Erickson was named College Assistant Coach of the Year by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association.

After breaking her ankle during preseason, Mulholland was able to practice with the team again in mid-December. She made her season debut at University of California-Santa Cruz.

“[Mulholland] is one of those people that will always speak her mind and stand up for what she believes,” said head coach Megan Wilson. “She works very hard and has handled adversity very well. She has one of those ‘never say die’ attitudes and always gives 100 percent.”

Mulholland feels team activities during the summer and the support of the coaching staff helped her build a strong bond with her fellow Pioneers.

“Having our coaches tell us all over and over again that they believe in us and that they have confidence in us constantly is a great feeling even when we might not be having the best day,” Mulholland said.

Johnson walked on as a senior after taking three years off of basketball.

“My year individually has been more than I ever thought it would be,” Johnson said. “Because I’m a walk-on, I didn’t expect to see the floor. My goal at practice was to make my teammates better. Turns out, I’ve been playing about 15 minutes a game, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Both women are are exemplary student athletes, according to Wilson.

“[Johnson] is an outstanding person with a great work ethic,” Wilson said. “She has proven in the short amount of time that she has been a member of our team that she is a great teammate and well-respected by her peers. She is a great example of what a student-athlete really is.

“We are lucky to have both of these [women] on our team.”

Looking ahead to the last stretch of the season, Mullholland believes the Pioneers will surprise the critics.

“I think we are a young team that people underestimate, and I think when everything finally starts to click we are going to surprise a lot of teams and other people,” Mullholland said.