The No. 18 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team fought through an early second-half deficit and junior forward Demetrius Woodley converted a go-ahead free throw with seven seconds to play Wednesday night in a 56-55 victory at UW-Stevens Point in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.

The Warhawks (19-3 overall, 8-3 WIAC), who extended their win streak to eight games, trailed by seven following a 9-0 run by the Pointers early in the second half.

UW-Whitewater methodically chipped away at the UW-Stevens Point lead and eventually took a 49-45 advantage following a 3-pointer by sophomore guard/forward Derek Rongstad with 7:36 to play.

One possession following a 3-pointer that gave the Pointers (11-10, 5-6) a 52-51 lead, senior guard Drew Bryson converted a layup to give the Warhawks a one-point lead with 2:13 on the clock.

After a miss on the other end, sophomore guard Andre Brown made a layup with 1:34 remaining to make it 55-52.

The Pointers responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession to tie the contest at the 1:09 mark.

The two teams exchanged turnovers as junior forward Demetrius Woodley picked up a steal with nine seconds to play and was fouled two seconds later.

Woodley missed the first before converting the second, and UW-Stevens Point missed the potential go-ahead shot on the other end as UW-Whitewater improved to 5-1 in true road games for the year.

Brown led the Warhawks with 14 points, and Rongstad collected a double-double with 12 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Senior forward Cole Van Schyndel tallied 13 points off the bench, and Woodley totaled six points, eight rebounds and four steals.

UW-Whitewater held a 13-4 advantage in made free throws and held UW-Stevens Point to 39.3 percent shooting.

The Warhawks jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in the first, but the Pointers quickly rallied to take a 13-12 advantage midway through the half.

From there, the two teams traded the lead before Van Schyndel converted a 3-point play to give UW-Whitewater a 26-24 halftime lead.

The Warhawks visit No. 7 UW-River Falls, which is in first place and leads UW-Whitewater by two games in the conference standings, this Saturday at 5 p.m.