The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team built a large lead in the first half and held off a strong push in the second Saturday night en route to an 89-78 victory at St. Norbert in the championship game of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament in De Pere, Wis.
 
The Warhawks (10-1 overall) shot 64.3 percent in the first half and knocked down 10 three-pointers, including their first six attempts, in the period and preserved their lead in the second thanks to hitting 18-of-20 from the free-throw line for the half and 21-of-24 for the contest.
 
Junior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) and junior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) tallied 21 points apiece to lead UW-Whitewater. Rongstad added four rebounds and two steals, and Sachs registered five rebounds and seven assists and hit 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
 
Junior guard Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) posted 14 points, all in the first half, and junior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) collected 13 points and three assists. Junior forward Maurquis Turner (Milwaukee, Wis./King) recorded 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
 
Following the conclusion of play, Rongstad was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Brown and Sachs.
 
The Warhawks hit their first six 3-point attempts, including three by Rongstad and three by Menke, to surge to an 18-6 lead with 14:48 on the clock.
 
Rongstad gave UW-Whitewater a 23-12 lead with 12:35 remaining with a layup. He and Menke combined for 22 of the team's first 23 points.
 
Turner scored five straight points to give the Warhawks a 28-15 advantage midway through the period.
 
UW-Whitewater continued to build its lead, taking a 34-16 advantage to force a St. Norbert timeout with 6:58 left.
 
Two more 3-pointers by Brown and Menke made it 43-21 at the 4:12 mark, and the Warhawks held a 49-30 lead by the end of the half.
 
Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) started the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer with 17:48 to play, but the Green Knights chipped away at their deficit, and a 14-0 run brought the UW-Whitewater lead down to 55-51 with 12:01 left in the contest.
 
The Warhawks retaliated with a 9-0 run of their own that included a 3-pointer by senior guard Jerry Ngobi (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) to take a 64-51 advantage with 7:42 to go.
 
St. Norbert cut its deficit back to nine, but Sachs scored nine of UW-Whitewater's next 11 points to give the team a 77-61 lead with 3:37 on the clock.
 
The Warhawks open the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season Wednesday at No. 4 UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m.