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Box Score

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team built a double-digit lead early in the second half but was unable to sustain it Tuesday night in an 86-77 setback at Viterbo, a member of the NAIA, in a non-conference affair in La Crosse, Wis.
 
The Warhawks (2-2 overall) led 60-45 with 11:58 to play following a 3-pointer by Gage Malensek (Brookfield, Wis./Central), and held a 62-51 advantage just before the midway point of the second half after a pair of free throws by Jack Brahm (Bayside, Wis./Glendale Nicolet).
 
The V-Hawks (4-4) continued to chip away at the UW-W lead, closing to one possession at 65-62 with just under seven minutes remaining and tying the game at 65-65 at the 6:05 mark.
 
The two teams traded points before Viterbo scored with 5:11 on the clock to take the lead for good, holding UW-Whitewater scoreless for nearly three minutes as it built a seven-point advantage.
 
The Warhawks got as close as seven over the final three minutes of regulation.
 
Malensek led a group of five UW-W players in double figures in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go with team highs in assists (5) and steals (3). Elijah Lambert (Racine, Wis./St. Catherine's) tallied 13 points and five rebounds, while Derek Gray (Madison, Wis./La Follette) posted 12 points and six rebounds.
 
Caleb Flaten-Moore (Ixonia, Wis./Oconomowoc) registered 10 of his 11 points in the first half and added four rebounds, and Brahm finished with 10 points, a team-best eight rebounds and three assists.
 
Carter Capstran (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) was the top scorer off the bench with seven points in 13 minutes for UW-Whitewater, which shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 19-of-26 (73.1 percent) from the free-throw line. The V-Hawks shot 54.4 percent from the field and outscored the Warhawks 21-12 from 3-point range.
 
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half until the 3:21 mark, when Malensek hit a free throw to give UW-W a 29-24 advantage. The Warhawks' lead never dipped below four for the rest of the period, and Dayne Armwald's (Madison, Wis./West) layup with 42 seconds left gave the team its largest lead of the half at 38-29.
 
UW-Whitewater continued to build on the lead in the second half, scoring on its first three possessions of the period.
 
The Warhawks host MSOE this Saturday for a non-conference game at Kachel Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m.