After outscoring its first five opponents by an average of 18.6 points, UW-Whitewater found North Central College (Ill.) a bit more difficult.

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In their final tune-up before beginning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, the Warhawks - ranked No. 2 in the d3hoops.com poll - edged the Cardinals 62-54 thanks to a balanced scoring attack led by Myles McKay (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls)'s 15 points Wednesday evening at Gregory Arena in Naperville, Ill.

Whitewater travels to Stevens Point - ranked seventh in the D3hoops.com poll - on Saturday.

Nine different UW-W players scored, with only McKay and Billy Kolinske (Waukesha/Catholic Memorial) (11) achieving double figures.

Four North Central players scored in double figures.  Reid Barringer led the Cardinals (3-2) with 15 points, Chris Drennan added 12 points, Matt Rogers 11 and Mitch Raridon contributed 10.

A 19-for-21 night from the free throw line helped put the Warhawks over the top.  Whitewater made all eight of its attempts in the final 40 seconds to pull away.

Holding a 35-20 rebound advantage didn't hurt UW-W either.  Kolinske, McKay and Kori Vernon (Madison/Memorial) led the Warhawks with seven rebounds apiece.

Eighteen Whitewater turnovers allowed North Central to stay in the game.  The Cardinals attempted eleven more shots from the field, but the Warhawk defense held them to only a 35.3 percent (18-for-51) shooting night.  UW-W's 47.5 percent (19-for-40) shooting night marked the first time this season it has had a field goal percentage below 50 percent.

Whitewater (6-0) led by as much as 10 points in the contest.  After the score was tied at 19 at 6:40 in the first half, the Warhawks went on a 10-0 surge after nailing seven free throws to push the lead to 29-19 at the 3:16 mark.

UW-W held a 50-40 advantage with 9:51 left in the game, but didn't score again until the 2:59 mark after allowing North Central to pull within three points (50-47).

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Pat Miller