UW-Whitewater, ranked sixth according to D3hoops.com, held on to first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 73-63 win over UW-Platteville in Williams Fieldhouse in Platteville Wednesday night.

box score

Whitewater's 35-29 lead at the half was the largest of the first twenty minutes.

UW-W led 47-35 with 13:16 left in the game when the Pioneers ran off seven points to make it 47-42 at 11:02.  It was still a six point game, 51-45, with 8:36 left before the Warhawks eventually pushed the bulge to 64-51 at the 3:11 mark.  Seven of Whitewater's final nine points came at the free throw line.

UW-Whitewater shot 59% from the floor, holding the Pioneers to 42%.  The Warhawks also earned a 36-22 rebound margin and made 16-21 free throws to 5-11 for UW-P.  

UW-W senior center Dustin Mitchell (Lac Du Flambeau/Lakeland) led both teams with 29 points, hitting 12-16 shots from the field and 4-4 from the line.  Junior guard #D.J. Dantzler# added 14 points, also making all four of his free throws, and senior guard Dupree Fletcher (Milwaukee/Rufus King) scored ten.  Junior point Phil Negri (Minocqua/Lakeland) dished out a game high seven assists, and Mitchell and Mike Bendall (Oconomowoc/Oconomowoc) shared game rebounding honors with nine apiece.  

UW-P was led by senior guard Curt Hanson's 18 points, followed by senior guard Mike Shaw with 17.  Junior guard Nick Allen was also in double figures with 11.  Hanson and junior guard Shane Kieler each had five assists for the Pioneers, and Shaw topped his team with five boards.

UW-W is now 15-2 overall and 7-1 in the WIAC.  UW-P drops to 10-7 overall and 4-4 in conference play.

Whitewater will travel to number one ranked UW-Stevens Point January 27 for a 7:00 tipoff.  The next home game for UW-W will be January 30 at 6:00 with UW-Stout visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center for Greenhouse Cafe Kid's Day.

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W head coach