Whitewater, Wis. -- The UW-Whitewater men's basketball team shot nearly 60% from the floor en route to an 88-72 win over Elmhurst University Tuesday night in Kachel Gym. Handing the Bluejays their first loss of the 2025-26 campaign, the Warhawks improved to 5-1 on the season. 

The first half was a tight back-and-forth battle with a late Warhawk run giving UWW a six-point advantage, 46-40, at the break. UWW scored the final four points of the half on a pair of Collin Madson (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) free throws and a Jake Quast (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) steal that ended in a fastbreak layin as the seconds ticked down. 

Both teams shot well in the first 20 minutes -- Elmhurst at over 55% while UW-Whitewater was knocking down buckets at a 64% clip. Luke Bara (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) had the hot hand with 16 points bolstered by 4-6 from downtown in the first half. 

On the other side of the break, the Bluejays whittled away at the lead cutting the gap to two, 46-44, early. The Warhawks responded with eight straight and continued to gradually pull away throughout the half. UWW hit their largest lead of the game, 22, on an Isaac Verges (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) layup that made it 84-62 with just over three minutes left. The Warhawks rode out the clock the rest of the way. 

The offenses cooled off, albeit just slightly for UWW, in the second half. The Bluejays shot 38% while the Warhawks were still making over half their shots at 55%. Madson took over in the second half with 11 points on 5-7 from the floor.

For the game, the Warhawks dominated in the paint outscoring Elmhurst by 20 points, 52-32. UW-Whitewater also capitalized on turnovers outscoring Elmhurst 23-6 on points off miscues. 

Bara led all scorers on the night with 24 on 8-11 from the field including 6-8 from beyond the arc. Madson ended up with 16 on 6-9 from the floor adding eight rebounds. Verges registered 13 points adding three assists in the game. Richie Warren (Racine, Wis./Park) was a single rebound shy of a double-double to go with 10 points.