The No. 5 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team improved to 6-0 in true road games this season Wednesday night, downing UW-Eau Claire 78-65 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference affair in Eau Claire, Wis.

The Warhawks (12-2 overall, 2-1 WIAC) shot 52.7 percent from the floor and hit 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the free-throw line, and out-scored the Blugolds 45-35 in the second half to pull away.

Junior guard Andre Brown posted a game-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added three rebounds. Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer tallied 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and junior guard David Sachs registered 11 points, three assists and two steals.

UW-Eau Claire (8-6, 0-3) jumped out to a 10-3 lead four minutes into the contest, but UW-Whitewater weathered the storm, eventually taking a 17-14 advantage midway though the first half thanks to a 9-0 run capped by a jumper from junior guard Dalton Menke.

The two teams remained within one possession of each other until the 2:26 mark of the first half, when junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer gave the Warhawks a four-point lead and Brown added to it with 1:24 remaining on another layup.

The Blugolds halved the deficit to 33-30 by halftime.

UW-Whitewater maintained a lead between three and seven points for the first six-plus minutes of the second half. Sachs extended the margin to nine on a jumper with 13:32 on the clock, and the lead grew to double digits with 10:51 left after a Brown jumper.

UW-Eau Claire closed its deficit to four with 6:58 to play before Pfeifer tallied five straight points to make it 68-59 with 3:39 remaining. The Warhawks hit all eight of their free throw attempts over the final 43 seconds of regulation to close out the contest.

UW-Whitewater hosts UW-Stout this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium