UW-Whitewater defeated UW-River Falls 93-72 at Karges Gym in River Falls, Wisconsin Saturday afternoon.
The victory gave UW-W its fourth win in the last five games, and helped the Warhawks hold on to at least a tie for fourth place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The top four teams in the league will host a first round game in the WIAC Tournament, which begins play Tuesday, February 20. UW-W is 15-8 overall, 8-6 in the WIAC. River Falls is 10-14 and 5-10 in league play.
Falcon center Nate Robertson (fr, Forest Lake, MN) got UW-RF off to a quick start. Robertson scored the Falcons' first nine points, giving UW-RF a 9-9 tie at 16:10. Both teams had five point leads in the first half, but Whitewater scored the last six points of the period to take a 43-37 lead in to the locker room. Robertson hit 6-8 field goals for 13 points in the first half. Senior guard Anthony Mlachnik (Muskego/Thomas More) scored 14 for UW-W, hitting 4-6 three-pointers.
The Warhawks scored the first 13 points of the second half to build a 58-37 lead, and River Falls never cut the margin to less than 17 the rest of the way.
Whitewater made 27-32 free throw attempts, giving them a 17-point bulge at the line. River Falls was 10-15 on free throws. The Warhawks also had a season low five turnovers, besting the previous low of seven accomplished in three games this season. UW-W, with Mlachnik hitting 6-8, shot 10-20 from beyond the arc compared to 4-12 for UW-RF.
Sophomore forward Kori Vernon (Madison/Memorial) had a collegiate career high 23 points on 6-8 shooting from the floor and 11-14 from the line. Vernon also led all rebounders with nine. Mlachnik added 22 points and seven assists, tying Vernon for game honors in that category. Junior forward Josh King (Janesville/Craig) contributed 16 points and eight rebounds. King was 5-7 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Robertson continued his hot play in the second half, leading all scorers with 26 points on 11-15 shooting. Junior guards Ryan Thompson (Virocqua) and Courtney Davis (Milwaukee) had ten points apiece for UW-RF.
UW-Whitewater will conclude the WIAC regular season at home. The Warhawks will host UW-Oshkosh Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00 and UW-Eau Claire Saturday, February 17 at 3:00. Both games will be played at Kachel Gym in Williams Center on the UW-W campus.
For additional information:
Pat Miller, UW-W coach, 262-472-1146
UW-W men's basketball site: http://www.uww.edu/athletics/mbasketball
WIAC men's basketball site: http://www.uwsa.edu/wiac/mbasket/index.html
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