UW-Whitewater, ranked fourth in the D3hoops.com poll, upped its record to 13-1 overall and 5-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 70-57 win over UW-River Falls, 7-8 and 1-5, at Kachel Gym in Williams Center Saturday night.

box score

photo gallery (Kristine Johnson)

With Whitewater leading 7-6 at 17:19, the Warhawks out-scored the Falcons 10-2 to make it 17-8 with 13:00 remaining in the half.  UW-RF cut the margin back to three, 17-14, at 10:17, when UW-W went on another run, this time 13-0 to take a 30-14 lead with 4:33 on the clock.  UW-W's largest lead of the half was 35-18 with 2:03 left.  The score at the half was 35-22 Whitewater.

With Whitewater leading 45-34, UW-RF went on a 7-2 streak to cut the lead to 47-41 at 10:35, as close as it would get the rest of the way.  That Falcon comeback was followed by a 10-0 run by the Warhawks to make it 57-41.  UW-W's biggest advantage was 70-52 with 1:24 left.

The Warhawks used the long ball to secure the victory, hitting 11-23 (48%) from behind the arc.  The Falcons were 0-7 on three shot attempts.  That helped offset UW-W getting to the free throw line just six times, going 3-6, while UW-RF was 9-11.

Whitewater was led by senior guard Dupree Fletcher (Milwaukee/Rufus King)'s 19 points, including 4-6 threes.  Senior center Dustin Mitchell (Lac Du Flambeau/Lakeland) added 16 points, freshman guard Nolan Free (Sheboygan/North) 15, and senior forward Mike Bendall (Oconomowoc/Oconomowoc) 11.  Free went 5-8 from beyond the arc.  Mitchell dished out four assists and Bendall led the team with eight boards.

River Falls was topped by junior forward Jake Voeltz's 18 points, and junior center Wade Guerin scored 15 and a game high 11 rebounds, with junior guard Brady Hannigan scoring 12.  Junior guard Jontae Koonkaew passed for a game high five assists.  

UW-Whitewater will host UW-Oshkosh Wednesday the 13th at 7:00 in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W coach