In a game decided by the slimmest of margins it is appropriate that nine of the eleven points scored in overtime came from the free throw line, with UW-River Falls defeating UW-Whitewater 69-68 at Karges Gym in River Falls.

box score

Tied 63-63 at the end of regulation, River Falls scored the first three points of the OT at the line, opening a 66-63 lead.  Whitewater used an Alex Edmunds (Cedarburg/) free throw at 2:29 to make it 66-64, and at 1:39 Dustin Mitchell (Lac Du Flambeau/Lakeland) went 2-2 from the stripe to tie the game.  On the Falcons' next possession Phil Negri (Minocqua/Lakeland) stole the ball and called timeout with 1:28 left.  UW-W set up Mitchell again, who was fouled by Falcon center Wade Guerin, his fifth of the contest and a key loss taking his double double out of the game.  Mitchell made the second of his two tries to put Whitewater in front 67-66 with 1:14 left.  Guard Jontae Koonkaew made the only basket of the extra session, a short jumper with 0:55 left to put the Falcons back in front 68-67.  Whitewater missed a three on its next possession and RF called a timeout with 0:32 left.  Coming out of the timeout UW-W fouled Spencer Shelman, who went to the line and made the second of two tries for a 69-67 Falcon lead.  Whitewater called timeout with seventeen seconds left and set up Mitchell again, who was fouled again to go to the line.  Mitchell made the first attempt and missed the second, but UW-W caught a break when the rebound went off a Falcon.  UW-W got off a last shot but missed and the clock ran out.

It's remarkable that the game even got to overtime, with River Falls holding a 24-2 lead with 9:48 left in the first half.  UW-W closed the gap to 33-20 at halftime, and continued to close after the break.  The game was tied, for the first time, at 8:55 42-42.  It would be tied five more times before the clock hit 0:00.

As you might expect, every team statistical category was as close as the final score.  UW-W shot 35%, RF 40%.  RF led in rebounds, 45-42.  RF led in assists 14-11, but Whitewater had the advantage in turnovers, 13-17. 

Whitewater defeated UW-RF 70-57 January 9 in Whitewater.  The Warhawks are now 1-1 in overtime games, defeating Oshkosh 62-58 January 13 in Whitewater.

Negri led the Warhawks with 16 points and Mitchell added his ninth double double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  #D.J. Dantzler# contributed 15 points and Edmunds tied Mitchell with 10 boards.  Edmunds led UW-W with three assists and Mitchell tied for game high honors with three steals.  The Falcons were led by Koonkaew's game high double double, 19 points and 11 rebounds, adding three steals and three assists to his night.  Guerin added the game's third double double, scoring 16 and pulling down 10 rebounds before he fouled out.  Jake Voeltz scored 15 for the Falcons.

UW-W, ranked sixth in the D3hoops.com poll, is 17-4 overall and 9-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  UW-RF is 9-13 and 3-10 in league play.

UW-W will host UW-Platteville Wednesday at 7:00 in Kachel Gym in the Williams Center. 

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W coach