The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team tallied 55 points in the second half of its 2015-16 season opener Friday to defeat Ripon 74-60 in a non-conference affair at Wyman Gymnasium in Ripon, Wis.
 
Trailing 28-19 at halftime, the Warhawks (1-0), who are receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, shot a sizzling 71.4 percent from the floor in the second half while holding the Red Hawks to 38.5 percent in the same period.
 
UW-Whitewater finished at 51.9 percent for the game while holding Ripon (0-1) to 35.8 percent.
 
Senior forward Trinson White (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside), a transfer from UW-Milwaukee, led the Warhawks in his debut, tallying 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line to go along with four assists.
 
Junior guard Drew Bryson (Elkhorn, Wis./Elkhorn) and freshman guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) were also in double figures, posting 12 and 13 points, respectively.
 
Sophomore forward Tyler Edmondson (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and added two blocks.
 
UW-Whitewater also held the Red Hawks' Ty Sabin, the nation's second-leading scorer a season ago, to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
 
Ripon opened the contest with an 11-2 run and led throughout the first half. Junior forward Cole Van Schyndel (Kaukauna, Wis./Wrightstown) registered six of his eight points off the bench in the period to help the Warhawks maintain a single-digit deficit headed into halftime.
 
The Red Hawks extended their lead to 14 just two minutes into the second half and led 50-37 with just over 12 minutes to play.
 
Spurred by baskets by Brown and junior guard Ethan Guske (Sheboygan, Wis./North), UW-Whitewater put together a 19-0 run, taking its first lead of the contest at 51-50 with 7:46 on the clock after a jumper by Edmondson.
 
The Warhawks' lead grew to 56-50 by the 6:32 mark on a 3-pointer by Bryson and a lay-up by Brown.
 
A minute and a half later, Bryson gave UW-Whitewater a double-digit advantage with a lay-up with 4:58 on the clock.
 
White, who registered 20 of his 21 in the second half, helped ice the game away with free throws down the stretch.
 
The Warhawks return to the floor next Friday in their home opener against Davenport (Mich.), the No. 2 ranked team in NAIA Division II. Tip-off at Kachel Gymnasium is slated for 7 p.m.