The UW-Whitewater men's basketball team, ranked seventh in the D3hoops.com poll, kept its record unblemished with a 71-59 win over UW-La Crosse at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse Wednesday. 


Andrew Haas' layup gave La Crosse a 4-2 lead, the last lead the Eagles held.  The last tie was 6-6.

With 3:44 left in the half UW-W used an 8-1 run to open up a 42-31 halftime lead.

The Warhawks continued hot coming out of the locker room, using an 8-0 streak to go up 50-31 at 16:56.

UW-W had 25 point leads twice in the second half.  The Eagles narrowed the final margin with a 15-2 burst over a four minute stretch late in the game.

Whitewater ruled the boards 36-24, led by senior forward Mike Bendall (Oconomowoc/Oconomowoc)'s seven.  Whitewater hit 28-50 (56%) from the floor, while the Warhawk defense was limiting the Eagles to 39% (23-58). 

UW-W had five players in double figures, led by senior center Dustin Mitchell (Lac Du Flambeau/Lakeland)'s 17.  Bendall added 14, junior guard DJ Dantzler (Joliet, IL/Joilet Township West) 13, junior guard Phil Negri (Minocgua/Lakeland) 11, and sophomore forward Alex Edmunds (Cedarburg/Cedarburg) 10.  Negri led the team with four assists.

UW-L junior guard Tony Mane share game scoring honors with Mitchell, with 17.  Senior guard Trevor Stratton added 16.  Sophomore forward Al Chery contributed three blocked shots and four steals.

UW-L is 5-2 overall, 0-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Whitewater, 5-0 and 1-0, will play at UW-Stout Saturday at 6:00.  The next game in Kachel Gym in Williams Center will be December 9 at 7:00 with UW-Stevens Point.

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W coach