Box Score The No. 5 UW-Whitewater men's basketball team was downed by No. 3 UW-River Falls, 81-80, in a conference match-up at Kachel Gymnasium.
Despite hot shooting from the Warhawks, UW-River Falls made a basket with less than two seconds remaining in the game to cap a 15-4 run and earn the victory.
Senior
Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) and junior
Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) lead the Warhawks with 18 points each. Junior
Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) contributed 14 points and junior
David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) tallied 13 points in the contest.
UW-Whitewater (11-2 overall, 1-1 WIAC) and UW-River Falls traded baskets throughout the first half, recording nine lead changes between the two teams. UW-Whitewater took their first lead of the game with a layup from Rongstad with 9:05 remaining in the first half.
The Warhawks took a six-point lead after back-to-back threes from Pfeifer and Menke. UW-Whitewater closed out the first half by taking the lead back on a last-second 3-pointer by Sachs that gave UW-Whitewater a 47-45 lead going into to half.
UW-Whitewater continued their hot shooting in the second half with threes from Sachs and Pfeifer in the first three minutes, extending the lead to eight.
With 7:13 remaining in the second half, Rongstad finished a layup, giving the Warhawks the lead at 70-62. Menke scored on back-to-back plays for UW-Whitewater and gave the Warhawks a 76-68 lead with five minutes remaining in the game.
UW-River Falls (10-2, 1-1) came back within one point with 1:49 remaining in the contest. With 15 seconds left in play, UW-River Falls had the ball after an offensive foul called on UW-Whitewater. UW-River Falls to take the lead – its first of the second half – with 1.8 seconds to go.
UW-Whitewater had one last possession left in play and got a shot off, but was unable to get it to fall.
The Warhawks shot 50 percent from three compared to UW-River Falls' 33.3 percent shooting from behind the arc. The Falcons outrebounded the Warhawks 40-27 in the contest.
UW-Whitewater continues conference play Wednesday, Jan. 10, at UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m.
