The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team closed the regular season Saturday with a 77-74 victory over UW-River Falls at Kachel Gymnasium to clinch its 21st consecutive postseason appearance.
The Warhawks (17-8 overall, 6-8 WIAC) will be the No. 6 seed in next week's WIAC Championship (Presented by Culver's) and visit the winner of tonight's UW-Stevens Point/UW-Platteville game Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the first round of the six-team tournament.
UW-Whitewater, which led the game nearly start to finish, used hot shooting in the first half, finishing 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) from the floor in the period, and hit 11-of-17 free throws in the second half to hold off the Falcons, who responded for 35.3 percent shooting in the first by hitting 52 percent of their looks and 14-of-16 from the free-throw line in the second.
Senior guard Andre Brown collected 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, and senior forward Melvin Brown Jr. totaled 19 points, including 18 in the first half, to go along with his five rebounds.
Junior forward Riley Jensen registered 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and added six rebounds and two blocks.
UW-Whitewater jumped out to an 8-2 start less than three minutes into the contest and held the lead until the 12:29 mark, when UW-River Falls (11-14, 4-10) took its first and only lead of the game at 19-17.
Senior forward Derek Rongstad put the Warhawks ahead with a 3-pointer on the next possession and spurred an 11-0 UW-W run that made it 28-19 with 9:01 remaining.
The Falcons closed to within one possession with 5:59 to play in the half, but a 14-3 spurt that included five points by Brown Jr. and four from Brown made it 44-30 at the 2:24 mark. The two teams traded baskets from there, and UW-Whitewater carried a 46-32 lead into halftime.
UW-River Falls cut its deficit to seven by the 17:22 mark of the second half, but the Warhawks taliled the next five points over two minutes to bring their lead back to double digits.
The Falcons chipped away and drew to within one possession at 55-52 near the midway point of the period. They remained within one possession for most of the next four minutes, and tied the game at 58-58 with 8:26 to go.
Jensen scored eight straight points to lead a 12-2 UW-Whitewater run that made it 70-60 with 4:37 to go. UW-River Falls drew to within six by the 2:15 mark and stayed within two possessions until the waning moments, when it drew to within 75-72 with 18 seconds on the clock.
Seniro guard David Sachs hit 1-of-2 free throws at the other end, and the Falcons made it 76-74 with a layup at 3.9 seconds left in regulation.
Sachs was fouled, hit his first on the other end and missed his second. UW-River Falls, which had no timeouts left, launched a potential game-tying 3-pointer from just inside half court that bounced off the right side of the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
Brown, Brown Jr., Rongstad, Sachs and fellow seniors Dalton Menke and Mitchell Pfeifer were recognized on court prior to tipoff before playing their final home game.