The Warhawk men's basketball team, ranked sixteenth in the D3hoops.com poll, topped eighth-ranked Whitworth 76-61 Wednesday afternoon in the National Invitational Tournament hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas Wednesday.

The Warhawks trailed early, down 7-0 at 18:03, and Whitworth continued its fast start, making six of its first seven field goal attempts. UW-W's defense tightened and Whitworth missed their next five shots allowing Whitewater to pull to within two, 18-16, with 10:17 left in the first half.

The Warhawks saw the deficit at two points two other times in the half, at 6:46 trailing 20-18 and again 2:28 down 26-24. The bucket at 2:28 was the last score of the half for UW-W. Whitworth senior forward Idris Lasisi knocked down five straight points and the Pirates added two more in the remainder of the half for their largest lead, nine points, in the first twenty minutes heading into the lockerroom ahead 33-24.

Whitworth shot 57%, 10-18 from the field including a perfect 3-3 from long range, in the first half. The Warhawks went 7-28, 25%, from the field and were just 2-9 from three point distance. The Pirates held a 17-14 rebound advantage including 16 defensive boards. The Warhawks used an 11-5 turnover advantage to stay in the game.

UW-W senior center Chris Davis tied for the first half high with 14 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Lasisi posted 14 in the first twenty minutes and added six rebounds for the Pirates.

Whitewater came out of the lockerroom on fire for the second half. Sophomore guard Cody Odegaard pulled the string on two quick three's and Davis followed with an old-fashioned three point play to knot the game for the first time at 33-33 with 18:36 to go. Junior forward Mack Larkin answered with back-to-back three's extending the Whitworth lead back to six, 39-33, with 16:52 left.

Odegaard dropped another three, his ninth point of the second half in less than five minutes, to pull the Warhawks to within two 41-39 with 15:37 remaining. The hot hands went cold momentarily until freshman guard Quardell Young used a steal and a fastbreak layup to tie the game for the second time at 41-41 with 12:08 left. The teams traded points until a 7-0 Warhawk run gave UW-W its first lead of the game and extended the gap to six points, 50-44 with 10:00 left on the clock when Whitworth called a timeout to try and break Whitewater's momentum.

Lasisi drilled a three pointer out of the timeout but the Warhawks answered with Davis and Odegaard teaming up on three layups including another old-fashioned three point play from Odegaard to make the gap 55-47 at 8:33. Young joined in the action 30 second later registering his own old school three point play to give UW-W its largest lead of the game 58-49 with 8:02 left.

The Warhawks were able to break into a double digit lead, 62-51, with 6:41 showing on the clock. Whitewater amassed its largest lead of the half, 14 points, at two occasions in the second twenty minutes. The first came off of a three-pointer by sophomore guard Alex Merg to make the score 67-53 at 4:12. Another three, this time by Davis, at the 2:00 mark gave UW-W the 70-56 lead. The Warhawk lead would not fall below nine points the rest of the way as Whitewater topped the Pirates 76-61 to improve to 10-1 on the season and hand Whitworth its second loss as they fall to 7-2.

Whitewater increased its shooting percentage with efficient scoring in the second half bringing the game total to 24-52 (46%) from field goal range. The Warhawks' defense stiffened in the second half to hold the Pirates to go 17-41 (42%) for field goals. UW-W also used a 19-11 turnover gap to their advantage.

Davis led the Warhawks with 22 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Merg and Odegaard posted 14 points apiece and Odegaard added three steals. Young rounded out the double digit scorers with 13. Lasisi recorded game high honors with 25 points including 4-4 from three point range and added eight rebounds. Senior center Felix Friedt grabbed a game high nine rebounds.

The Warhawks will take on Marian University in Fond du Lac Friday, December 30 at 7:00.

For additional information: Pat Miller, UW-W coach, 262-472-1146 or millerp@uww.edu