Fravert, Titans let D-III hoops title slip away

By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – Marshfield’s Adam Fravert and the rest of the UW-Oshkosh Titans fell short March 17, in their bid for a national basketball championship. The Titans lost to Nebraska Wesleyan 78-72 in the NCAA Division III men’s college basketball title game at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA. Fravert scored one point in the game, and went 0-2 from the floor, as the Titans saw their historic season come to an end.

The championship game was tied at 72 with just over two minutes left, when Wesleyan went on a 6-0 run to end the game. The Titans had gone on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 72, before the Prairie Wolves pulled away and ended their season 30-3, and claimed the program’s first national title in 15 NCAA postseason appearances.

UW-Oshkosh was led by Ben Boots with a game-high 24 points. The Titans ended their season 25-8, concluding their eighth NCAA postseason journey with a Final Four appearance. UW-Oshkosh, which recorded its most wins in a season since going 25-7 in 2003, entered the game ranked 24th in the country by D3hoops.com. Unranked Nebraska Wesleyan University ended the year with a 13-game winning streak.

In their first tournament game March 2, the Titans beat Marietta College of Ohio 74-67. Fravert led all scorers with 14 points, on 5-9 shooting from the floor, and 3-4 at the foul line. In round two the following day, UW-Oshkosh beat Wittenberg of Ohio 68-60. Fravert scored 12 points while going 5-14 from the floor in playing 33 of the game’s 40 minutes.

In game three the following weekend, the Titans blew out Emory University of Georgia 93-72 March 9 at the Carver Center in Rock Island, IL. The former Marshfield Tiger standout went 5-10 from the floor and scored 14 points. Fravert followed that up the next night by scoring 6 points against Augustana College of Illinois, in a 95-88 OT win, to help send the Titans to the Final Four. The Marshfield native hit a key free throw with 15 seconds remaining in the overtime period to help secure the Oshkosh win. Fravert also added two assists, two blocked shots, and grabbed six rebounds.

In the D-III semifinal game March 16 in Salem, Fravert scored a game-high 21 points in leading Oshkosh past Ramapo College of New Jersey 73-57. The 6’8″ sophomore from Marshfield made 10 of 18 shots from the field, including a pair of second-half dunks. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and recorded five assists, leading the team in all three categories. It was Fravert’s eighth double-double of the season, and the second for the NCAA tournament run. The win was also the 200th victory for Titans head coach Pat Juckem, who is now 200-152 over 13 seasons, including a 95-73 mark spanning six seasons at UW-Oshkosh.

The Titans advanced to the semifinal round of the Division III Championship for the first time in school history. Oshkosh previously reached the Final Four of the 1968 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Tournament, finishing third.

Adam Fravert finished the 2017-18 with 395 points, including a season-high 25 against St. Mary’s of Minnesota Dec. 29 at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. The Marshfield native also scored 18 points in two games against UW-Stout, his father Brian’s alma mater.