News Release

Whitewater, Wis. — MEN’S BASKETBALL … Manchester Sends Whitewater Into Tournament Title Game

Senior guard Jeremy Manchester hit a jumper in the lane with three seconds left to give top-seeded UW-Whitewater a 72-70 victory over UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament semifinal game at Kachel Gym in Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin Thursday night.

UW-Whitewater, 21-5 and ranked 20th in the D3hoops.com national poll, will host UW-Stout, 21-5 and the number two seed in the tourney, Saturday at 7:00. Stout defeated UW-Stevens Point, the third seed, 78-70 in Menomonie Thursday. The Blue Devils are ranked 14th in the national Division III poll.

Whitewater’s first lead in the game, after going scoreless for the first 2:20, was 10-9 at 13:44 on a lay-up by Manchester. UW-W led 33-30 at halftime.

The Warhawks never got the lead into double digits, with the largest lead nine, 47-38 at 13:42 and again 57-48 at 7:30. La Crosse cut the margin to 69-67 at 1:11 on a three point play, lay-up and free throw by junior center Joe Werner. A free throw by Whitewater’s Anthony Mlachnik made it 70-67, and the Eagles’ Luke Homan hit a three to tie it 70-70 with 0:21 remaining. Whitewater worked the clock down for Manchester’s shot, and La Crosse called timeout with four tenths of a second left but did not get a shot off.

Senior forward Melvin Williams and sophomore forward Rob Perry led the Warhawks with 16 points apiece, with junior center Andy Freund contributing 15 and Manchester 10. Freund, the leading rebounder in the game, had a double-double with ten rebounds. La Crosse’s Werner was the game’s leading scorer with 20, with senior guard Marcus Conigliaro adding 14 and Chris Ask 13. Senior forward Joe Bemis had four blocked shots for UW-L.

The team stats mirrored the close outcome. Whitewater hit 45% from the field, La Crosse 43%. Whitewater shot 77% (20-26) from the line, La Crosse made 79% (15-19). Whitewater had a 39-33 rebound advantage, and La Crosse committed two fewer turnovers (10-12).

The winner of the WIAC postseason tournament earns the league’s automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament. Bids will be announced Monday, February 27, with first round action Thursday, March 2.

For additional information:
Pat Miller, UW-W coach, 262-472-1146
UW-W men’s basketball web site: www.uww.edu/athletics/mbasketball
WIAC men’s basketball web site: http://www.uwsa.edu/wiac/mbasket/index.html
NCAA III men’s basketball web site: http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/schedules/diviii