UW-Whitewater let a 19-point lead slip away in the second half, withstanding a 40 point outburst by UW-Eau Claire's Dan Beyer, to hang on to defeat UW-EC 73-72 at Kachel Gym in Williams Center in Whitewater, Wis. Saturday afternoon.
The win assures UW-W, 17-8 overall and 10-6 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, fourth place in the final regular season standings and a home game Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. against UW-Platteville, the fifth place finisher in the
WIAC. The top four teams in the WIAC Tournament will host first round games Tuesday, #1 seed vs. #8, 2-7, 3-6 and Whitewater-Platteville in the 4-5. The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Thursday at the highest remaining seeds, with the
tournament championship Saturday at 7 p.m., again hosted by the highest remaining seed. UW-Stevens Point won the league championship, but the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship Tournament is determined by the WIAC Tournament.
The Warhawks shot 50% from the floor in the first half, hitting 6-9 from three-point range, to open a 42-30 halftime margin. A 7-0 spurt at the start of the second half pushed the bulge to 49-30 at 18:41. Eau Claire junior center Dan Beyer kept his team
in the game, scoring UW-EC's first thirteen points of the second half as Whitewater's margin closed to 54-43 at 13:52. After a three-pointer by UW-W' Jason Price at 13:03, the Blugolds outscored Whitewater 11-2 to climb back within 59-54 at 7:10.
Beyer continued to score, bringing UW-Ec to within three twice, on a layup at 5:26 to make it 61-58, and with a pair of free throws at 4:29 to make it 63-60 Whitewater. Price made two free throws with 29 seconds on the clock to give UW-W a 71-68. EC's
Jared Bardon made a layup with six seconds left to make it 71-70, but Whitewater's Anthony Mlachnik was fouled on the inbounds and made two free throws. EC had a last chance, but a long three was off and the two point put back was good as the horn
sounded for the 73-72 final.
Beyer wound up with 40 points, hitting 15-21 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 9-10 from the line. Beyer's outburst is the highest scoring game in the WIAC this season. The previous high was 36 by Leonard Cobb of UW-Superior
versus Finlandia November 17. The previous high in a WIAC contest was Pete Rortvedt's 35 in Stevens Point's win over Whitewater February 7. It also marked the first time that a UW-W opponent scored 40 points since Josh Iserloth scored 40 for UW-Stevens Point January 23, 2002. Bardon contributed 16 points for the Blugolds.
Whitewater was led by Price's 22, with senior guard Craig Anderson and sophomore forward Kori Vernon adding 11 and 10, respectively.
Whitewater shot 56% (9-16) from three point range compared to EC's 11% (1-9), but the Blugolds shot 54% from the floor. EC shot 62% from the field in their second half comeback.
UW-Eau Claire ends the regular season 10-15 and 3-13 in the WIAC.
For additional information:
Pat Miller, UW-W coach, 262-472-1146
UW-W men's basketball site: www.uww.edu/athletics/mbasketball
WIAC men's basketball site: http://www.uwsa.edu/wiac/mbasket/index.html