With a nod to Charles Dickens, it was a tale of two halves Saturday as UW-Whitewater defeated Carthage College 74-69 in the championship game of the Carthage Classic at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

UW-W scored the first six points of the game, but Carthage tied the score, and remained tied at 8-8 with 12:45 in the first half.  But once UW-Whitewater got up they never let up.  Without the benefit of an unanswered streak, UW-W's lead reached double figures at 29-18 on a layin by junior forward Reggie Hearn (Milwaukee/Marshall) off an Alex Merg (Greendale/Greendale) feed at 3:37.  Junior guard Patrick Souter (Racine/St. Catherine's)'s two free throws with 0:27 on the clock sent Whitewater into intermission with a 39-24 lead.

Whitewater shot 56% in the half, limiting the Redmen to 38%.  The Warhawks also had an edge from beyond the arc, hitting 3-6 to 2-8 for Carthage, and at the line, where UW-W was 8-11 and Carthage 4-6.  Whitewater controlled the boards 18-12.  Warhawk coach Pat Miller used ten players in the half and nine of them scored.

Carthage stormed out of the lockerroom on a 13-4 run to pull within 43-37 on a layup by senior center Tyler Pierce at 15:33.  Junior forward Marlon Senior sandwiched a pair of Carthage baskets around a Whitewater score to but Whitewater's lead to 47-43 with 13:44 on the clock. 

Whitewater followed with an 8-2 run, ending with a three point play from sophomore guard Quardell Young (Kenosha/Bradford), that returned the UW-W lead to double figures, 55-45 at 10:18.  Turnabout being fair play, Carthage responded with their own 8-2 spurt, capped by a layup from junior guard Kevin Sykes.  UW-W junior guard Patrick Souter (Racine/St. Catherine's)'s three point play and two free throws by sophomore forward KJ Evans (Beloit/Beloit) bumped it back up to 62-53 Whitewater.

At 1:42 CC's Reese Herth made a driving layup to pull Carthage within five, 69-64, and with 0:58 showing Kiston Lee tipped in a missed fast break layup, was fouled, and hit the free throw to cut Whitewater's lead to 69-67.  Reese came up with a steal on the Whitewater possession, but Carthage the best the Redmen offense could come up with was two wild three point attempts, both air balls and, after a wild pinball scramble, Evans came up with the ball and passed it off to junior guard Eric Bryson (Elkhorn/Elkhorn), who was fouled with fourteen seconds left.  Bryson hit both attempts to put UW-W in front 71-67.  Carthage's Donte Logan took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court to get off a layup, but the miss was dunked by Luke Johnson trailing the play for a 71-69 score with :07 left. 

Bryson was fouled on the inbounds, and with :05 remaining, he made the first of two free throws to make it 72-69, and when he missed the second he got his own rebound ("get the shootah Allie", thanks to Al McGuire), was fouled, and returned to the line to hit the two charity tosses that made the final 74-69. 

UW-W improved to 3-0, Carthage is 3-2.

Whitewater shot 58% from the floor, Carthage 48% after improving to 56% in the second half.  Rebounding almost evened out, with a slight 28-27 Warhawk advantage, and the Redmen defense ended up causing 17 UW-W turnovers to 15 for the home team, a reversal of the halftime numbers.  Bryson led both teams with 19 points, joined in double figures for UW-W by 15 from Evans and 11 by Young.  Carthage had four players in double figures, led by Tyler Pierce's 12.  Redmen guard Donte Logan added 11 points and a game high five assists.

UW-W, fifth in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, will travel to Bloomington, Illinois to face eighth ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Tuesday.  The Warhawks' next home game will be the WIAC home opener Saturday, December 8 at 3:00 with UW-Eau Claire visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center.