Chris Davis hit a baseline jumper with 2.9 seconds to go, lifting No. 9 UW-Whitewater to a 55-53 win at No. 19 UW-River Falls, giving the Warhawks the WIAC regular season crown and the top seed in the conference tournament.
UW-River Falls led 9-3 at 16:35 on Brian Kimble steal and layin. Whitewater called time out, and came out of it on an 11-3 run that gave Whitewater the lead, 14-12 at 11:27. UW-W held the Falcons scoreless from 10:18 to 3:45, while adding seven points to put the Warhawks in front 21-14. Whitewater pushed the lead to 24-16, its largest lead of the half, on an Eric Bryson three-pointer with 3:20 left. The Warhawks held a 24-20 lead at the half.
Both teams shot 32% from the field in the first half, but
Whitewater was 5-10 from beyond the arc while Falcons went
1-7. Both teams totaled five free throws attempts in the
half. Chris Davis led UW-W with nine points and five
rebounds, and Alex Merg passed for four assists. The
Falcons' Shane Manor scored five points to lead UW-RF.
Wade Guerin led both teams with seven rebounds, and Kimble dished
off four assists.
Cody Odegaard's free throws at 16:43 gave UW-W its largest lead to
that point, 29-21 at 16:43. The Warhawks extended the lead to
32-23 on a Quardell Young layin at 14:50. UW-RF's Ollie White
made two free throws with 12:23 on the clock to bring RF back to
35-32. Shane Manor followed with a jumper at 11:50, to get
the Falcons within two, 37-35.
Chris Davis, the leading scorer for Whitewater in the game, picked
up his fourth foul at 9:02, and Manor, the top Falcon scorer in the
game, was hit with his fourth at 8:52.
Manor made one free throw at 5:54 to keep the Whitewater lead at
two, 50-48. Taylor Peterson knotted the game at 51-51 with a
three-pointer at 5:04. The game was still tied, 53-53, and
Whitewater had the ball with 0:27 left. UW-W used up most of
the time, then went to Davis for the game-winner.
This is a modal window.
River Falls made two more field goals (21-50, Whitewater was 19-44), but the edge came in three point shots, where UW-W was 6-15 and UW-RF was 3-13. After attempting just five free throws in the first half, the teams combined for 30 attempts in the game. There were 11 fouls, combined, in the first half, but 26 in the second.
Davis led Whitewater in scoring, 16, and rebounding, six.
Alex Merg was credited with 11 assists, second on the team this
season only to the 12 Merg had at Hamline University November
27. River Falls was led by Manor's 19 points, like UW-W the
only player to score in double figures. Wade Guerin took game
honors with ten rebounds.
UW-W coach Pat Miller has directed the Warhawks to five WIAC
championships (2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012) in his eleven
seasons.
As the highest seed, UW-W will host the lowest remaining seed
after Tuesday's first round games. The matchups Tuesday are
UW-Superior (#6, 14-11) at UW-Stevens Point (#3, 19-6), and UW-La
Crosse (#5, 16-9) at UW-Platteville (#4, 14-11).
For additional information: Pat Miller, UW-W coach,
262-472-1146 or millerp@uww.edu