The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team built a large lead in the first half and held off a strong push in the second Saturday night en route to an 89-78 victory at St. Norbert in the championship game of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament in De Pere, Wis.
The Warhawks (10-1 overall) shot 64.3 percent in the first half and knocked down 10 three-pointers, including their first six attempts, in the period and preserved their lead in the second thanks to hitting 18-of-20 from the free-throw line for the half and 21-of-24 for the contest.
Junior forward Derek Rongstad and junior guard David Sachs tallied 21 points apiece to lead UW-Whitewater. Rongstad added four rebounds and two steals, and Sachs registered five rebounds and seven assists and hit 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Dalton Menke posted 14 points, all in the first half, and junior guard Andre Brown collected 13 points and three assists. Junior forward Maurquis Turner recorded 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Following the conclusion of play, Rongstad was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Brown and Sachs.
The Warhawks hit their first six 3-point attempts, including three by Rongstad and three by Menke, to surge to an 18-6 lead with 14:48 on the clock.
Rongstad gave UW-Whitewater a 23-12 lead with 12:35 remaining with a layup. He and Menke combined for 22 of the team's first 23 points.
Turner scored five straight points to give the Warhawks a 28-15 advantage midway through the period.
UW-Whitewater continued to build its lead, taking a 34-16 advantage to force a St. Norbert timeout with 6:58 left.
Two more 3-pointers by Brown and Menke made it 43-21 at the 4:12 mark, and the Warhawks held a 49-30 lead by the end of the half.
Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer started the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer with 17:48 to play, but the Green Knights chipped away at their deficit, and a 14-0 run brought the UW-Whitewater lead down to 55-51 with 12:01 left in the contest.
The Warhawks retaliated with a 9-0 run of their own that included a 3-pointer by senior guard Jerry Ngobi to take a 64-51 advantage with 7:42 to go.
St. Norbert cut its deficit back to nine, but Sachs scored nine of UW-Whitewater's next 11 points to give the team a 77-61 lead with 3:37 on the clock.
The Warhawks open the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season Wednesday at No. 4 UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m.