The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team hit 10 of its first 12 shots from the floor and didn't look back Friday night in an 82-66 triumph over 15th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a non-conference showdown and the season opener for both teams at Kachel Gymansium.
 
Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) tallied a career-high 27 points to lead the Warhawks (1-0 overall), who took a 48-26 halftime lead and withstood a second-half rally by the Stags for a win over a fellow top 15 opponent.
 
Making his UW-Whitewater debut, junior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) posted 15 points, five rebounds and six assists. Junior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) collected the fourth double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guar Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) registered 12 points and a team-high three steals.
 
The Warhawks shot 30-of-44 from the free-throw line in the contest, led by a 12-of-14 performance by Pfeifer. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (0-1) made 15-of-25 from the free-throw line for the game and shot 53.8 percent in the second half.
 
UW-Whitewater hit its first five shots from the field, but the Stags made their first three attempts to stay within 11-7 in the first four minutes.
 
The Warhawks scored 14 of the next 17 points to increase its lead to 25-10 by the midway point of the first half.
 
Junior guard Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) hit a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 18 with 5:21 remaining, and Sachs put the lead above 20 at 40-19 with 2:54 on the clock.
 
Pfeifer knocked won a 3-pointer on the next possession and hit a pair of free throws on the team's next offensive possession to make it 45-20 and give UW-Whitewater its largest lead of the half.
 
Rongstad gave the Warhawks their largest lead of the game with a layup at the 15:50 mark in the second half.
 
From there, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps chipped away at its deficit, getting as close as nine with 3:52 to play.
 
Pfeifer hit a pair of free throws and Sachs knocked down a jumper on the next two possessions to push the advantage back to double digits.
 
UW-Whitewater returns to action Saturday night as it hosts Waldorf (Iowa) at 7 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium.