The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team turned in a strong defensive performance and made several big plays offensively late in the second half Wednesday night to defeat UW-Platteville 58-49 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at Kachel Gymnasium.
With the win, the Warhawks (15-8 overall, 5-8 WIAC) created a winner-take-all matchup against UW-River Falls this Saturday at Kachel Gymnasium for the sixth and final spot in next week's WIAC Championship. The Falcons topped UW-Eau Claire Wednesday to stay one game behind UW-W in the league standings.
UW-Whitewater held the Pioneers (14-10, 7-6) to 28.3 percent shooting and held a 45-28 advantage in rebounding, including a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass.
Senior forward Melvin Brown Jr. tallied a team-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Senior guard Andre Brown collected 12 points and six rebounds and hit 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Mitchell Pfeifer hit 6-of-6 from the free-throw line on his way to eight points and six rebounds, and junior forward Riley Jensen contributed eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
The Pioneers hit three straight 3-pointers to start the game, but the Warhawks responded with an 8-0 run of their own that included a pair of layups by Jensen to draw within one.
Brown Jr. gave UW-Whitewater its first lead of the game at 13-11 with 8:59 on the clock after knocking down a 3-pointer.
The two teams traded the lead before UW-Platteville scored eight straight to take a 22-15 advantage at the 2:26 mark.
Brown Jr. scored the Warhawks' last five points of the half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that brought the team to within 24-20.
Brown Jr. converted a 3-point play two minutes into the second half to give UW-Whitewater a 25-24 lead. The two teams traded the lead before the Warhawks scored six straight points to make it 33-29 with 14:01 on the clock.
UW-Whitewater opened up a seven-point lead at the midway point of the period, but the Pioneers hung around and drew to within 45-43 with 3:14 remaining.
From there, Pfeifer hit a pair of free throws, senior guard David Sachs buried a critical 3-poiner after the Warhawks forced a turnover on the other end to make it 50-43 with 2:13 left.
A layup by Brown Jr. made it an eight-point game with just over a minute to go, and UW-Whitewater hit 5-of-7 free throws over the final 46 seconds of regulation for the final margin.
Saturday's game against UW-River Falls tips off at 5 p.m. The team will honor Brown, Brown Jr., Pfeifer, Sachs and fellow seniors Dalton Menke and Derek Rongstad at halftime of the contest.