The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team was edged 87-86 by North Central College in Whitewater Saturday evening. 

The Cardinals showcased their long range prowess hitting over 63-percent, 12-19 including many contested triples, from beyond the arc in the contest. Still the game came down to the final seconds. 

The Warhawks trailed early but battled back to take a 45-41 lead by the intermission. Jameer Barker (Racine, Wis./St. Catherine's) dropped in 10 points in under 13 minutes of action in the first half while Carter Capstran (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) added nine. 

The second half went back-and-forth with NCC building a nine-point advantage, 63-54, with 12:08 remaining. The Warhawks cut the deficit down to two over the next four minutes and from that point the lead fluctuated between two and five points. 

That is until NCC knocked down one of their triples to push the lead to seven with two minutes left. 

Barker swiped the ball from the Cardinal point guard following the inbound and hit a driving layin with 1:37 to go but another three-pointer extended the margin to eight, 87-79. 

Capstran hit a bucket in the paint with less than a minute remaining, then Miles Barntable knocked down a three after another Barker steal. With a three-point lead, NCC opted to foul with 11 seconds left. Barker went to the line and hit both to make it 87-86. 

Barker tied up the Cardinals on the inbounds pass for a jump ball - possession in favor of UWW with just over eight seconds to go. Capstran had a shot in the paint that wouldn't fall. North Central pulled down the rebound but was immediately called for a travel with just four-tenths remaining to give the Warhawks one last chance. 

Barnstable flew off a screen to the near corner and put up an open three but it went long as the buzzer sounded for the final. 

Capstran led UWW with 19 points adding a team-high six rebounds. Barker wrapped up a solid game with 18 adding five steals and four assists, both team highs. Elijah Lambert (Racine, Wis./St. Catherine's) and Delvin Barnstable rounded out the double digit scorers for UW-Whitewater with 12 and 11 respectively.