The University of Wisconsin- Whitewater men's basketball team fell to UW-River Falls, 76-66, in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference contest Saturday evening.

UW-River Falls out-rebounded the Warhawks (16-7 overall, 6-6 WIAC 43-27 and shot 26-of-28 from the free throw line compared to 19-of-26 from the free throw line for UW-Whitewater in the contest.

Junior guard Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) led the Warhawks) with 16 points and seven rebounds.  Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) added 14 points and junior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) added 10 points.

UW-Whitewater sank three 3-pointers, two from Rongstad and one from Sachs, in three possessions to give the Warhaws a 9-3 with 15:39 remaining in the first half.

UW-River Falls took the lead, 18-17, with 10:45 remaining in the period, but UW-Whitewater answered with a 3-pointer from Pfeifer in the next possession to regain the lead, 20-18.

With just under six minutes remaining in the half, senior guard Jerry Ngobi (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) found sophomore guard James Fox (Janesville, Wis./Edgerton) behind the arc, which resulted in a 3-point basket for the Warhawks and tied the score 28-28.

UW-River Falls (15-7 overall, 6-6 WIAC) shot 5-of-6 in the last 1:18 of the first half to end the half on top 38-32.

Junior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) sank a mid-range basket with 16:41 in the second half to bring the Warhawks within four, 44-40.

The Falcons extended its lead to 11 points with just under 15 minutes remaining in play.

UW-Whitewater cut the Falcons lead to seven with a free throw from Pfeifer with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

At 6:53 in the second half UW-River Falls led, 63-51, after a pair of free throws.

With a pair of free throws from junior forward Riley Jensen (Milton, Wis./Janesville Craig), the Wahawks cut the lead to six points with just under two minutes remaining in play, but the Falcons would remain on top.

UW-Whitewater shot 47.6 percent behind the arc compared to 39.3 percent from UW-River Falls, but the Falcons held the Warhawks to 38.3 percent shooting from the floor.

UW-Whitewater will continue play Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. against UW-Platteville in Platteville, Wis.