The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team got off to a quick start Saturday night and didn't look back in an 83-61 victory at Ripon in a non-conference contest.
 
The Warhawks (8-0 overall) led 16-2 five minutes into the game and held on in the second half on the way to their third road win of the year.
 
Five players scored in double figures for UW-Whitewater, including senior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail), who tallied a game-high 19 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) collected a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists.
 
Senior guard Malik Clements (Fitchburg, Wis./Madison West) posted 13 points, senior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) contributed 11 points and senior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) added 10 points. Senior forward Melvin Brown Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Vincent) corralled a game-best eight rebounds.
 
The Warhawks finished with a 42-28 advantage on points in the paint and shot 56.9 percent from the floor, including 75 percent (21-of-28) in the first half.
 
Ripon (4-5) cut its deficit to nine with 13:07 remaining in the half, but a jumper by senior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) one minute later brought UW-Whitewater's lead back to double digits, where it stayed for the rest of the half.
 
The Warhawks took their largest lead of the period at 21 after a pair of free throws by Brown with 2:03 to play. Senior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) hit a jumper just inside the 3-point line at the buzzer to give the team a 53-33 halftime advantage.
 
UW-Whitewater led by no fewer than 16 points in the second half.
 
UW-Whitewater resumes non-conference action Friday at Loras. Tipoff in Dubuque, Iowa, is slated for 7 p.m.