Junior guard Matt Goodwin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) scored 27 points, the most by a Warhawk player this season, but it wasn't enough as fifteenth-ranked UW-Whitewater fell 79-71 to Saint John's University (MN) Saturday evening in the Nicolet Bank Classic at the Schuldes Sports Center in DePere, Wisconsin.

box score

Saint John's held a 30-29 lead at halftime, and never relinquished it in the second half.  The Warhawks cut the margin to one early in the half, 32-31 at 16:58 on a layup by Kori Vernon (Madison/Memorial), but a 12-3 Johnnies run put the margin back in double digits, where it eventually reached 13 at 49-36 with 11:13 left.  But UW-W returned the favor and ran off a 12-0 streak of its own to bring it back to one, 49-48 on a Billy Kolinske (Big Bend/Waukesha Memorial) layup with 7:27 remaining.  UW-W kept it at one at 51-50, 53-52 and 54-53, but another SJU run, this time 10-0, pushed the deficit back to ten, 63-53 at 3:13.  The closest UW-W could get the rest of the way was four points, including three times in the last two minutes of the game, but SJU scored ten of its last twelve points at the line as UW-W tried to stop the clock.

Goodwin hit 10-17 shots from the field, including 4-7 from three point range.  Vernon added 11 and guard Myles McKay (Milwaukee/Menomonee Falls) 10.

Senior guard Ryan Lieser led four Johnnies in double figures, scoring 24 points.  Lieser hit 8-11 from the field, 3-4 from beyond the arc, and 5-6 free throws.  Senior center Jason Fogt contributed 18 points in his second game back from an injury, freshman forward Chris Schwartz added 17, and senior point Nick Johnson scored 11 points and led SJU with four assists and three steals. 

UW-W, 7-2, will play the loser of Saturday's second game between host Saint Norbert and Rockford College in the third place game at 3:00 Sunday.  Saint John's, 5-3, will play in the tourney title game at 5:00. 

Whitewater's next home game will be Wednesday, January 2 at 7:00, with North Central College visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center.