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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team saw its 21st consecutive appearance in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship come to an end Tuesday night with a 77-60 defeat at UW-Platteville in the first round of the conference tournament, which is presented by Culver's.
The Warhawks (17-9 overall) trailed from the 11:54 mark of the first half on and were unable to grab a lead at any point in the contest. The team drew to as close as six in the second half after trailing by double digits, but was unable to string together baskets on the offensive end with stops on the defensive side.
Senior guard
Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) collected a team-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals to finish his career with 1,152 points, the 20th-most in program history.
Junior guard
Tywon Bressler (Milwaukee, Wis./Dominican) posted 12 points, and senior guard
Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) registered 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Senior forward
Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) added 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.
UW-Whitewater was held to 33.9 percent shooting for the game, while UW-Platteville (16-10) converted 46.4 percent of its looks.
The Pioneers, who advance to Thursday's semifinal round at second-seeded UW-La Crosse, held a 36-20 advantage on points in the paint.
The Warhawks trailed 8-3 more than six minutes into the game, but recovered to tie the game following a 3-pointer by Brown and a jumper by Bressler. UW-Platteville took the lead for good at the 11:54 mark, starting a 10-0 run at the same point.
UW-Whitewater drew to within 20-13 with 3:31 on the clock, but the Pioneers closed the half on a 9-4 run to take a 12-point lead at the half.
The Warhawks continued to fight in the second half, but UW-Platteville built its lead up to 43-29 with 14:46 remaining. The Pioneers continued to hold a double-digit lead until back-to-back jumpers by Brown made it 51-45 with 8:29 to go.
UW-Platteville scored the next two baskets to build its lead back up to 10, and UW-Whitewater was unable to get closer than seven the rest of the way. The Pioneers hit 9-of-10 from the free-throw line over the final 2:02 of regulation to seal their win.
