Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team opened its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) season with a 88-74 win at UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Kachel Gymnasium in Williams Center. The Eagles, ranked fourth on D3hoops.com, improve to 7-0 overall while the Warhawks drop to 4-3. UW-Whitewater was also playing its conference opener. 

It marks UWL's second straight season with seven straight wins. 

UW-Whitewater took a 9-5 lead on Trevon Chislom's three-pointer, but a Austin Westra layup and Craig Steele three-point field goal gave UWL a 10-9 lead with 15:50 left in the first half. The Warhawks took a 19-18 advantage on a Chislom jumper, but the Eagles went on a 11-0 run to take a 29-19 lead on a Westra layup with 7:07 remaining. Mack Sebert's layup gave UWL a 20-19 lead at 20-19 with 9:33 left. The Eagles would not trail the rest of the game. Sebert and Westra each had four points in the run while Henry Noone connected on a three-pointer. 

Chislom's jumper for UW-Whitewater with 3:01 left cut the deficit to 32-28, but Will Fuhrmann's three-pointer gave the Eagles a 35-28 advantage. UWL led, 38-30, at halftime. 

UW-Whitewater cut the lead to two points on two different occasions in the second half, including 44-42 with 16:52 left on a Chislom layup, but Sebert's three-pointer gave UWL a 47-42 lead. The Warhawks would get no closer the rest of the game. Westra's three-point play made it 50-42. Chislom made one-of-two at the line to cut it to 50-43, but a 6-0 run from UWL made it 56-43. 

The Eagles took their largest lead of the game at 83-64 with 3:21 remaining. 

UWL shot 52.4% from the field, including 48.0% (12-of-25) from three-point range, and 83.3% (10-of-12) at the free throw line. Westra led the Eagles with 21 pionts, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks while adding three assists. Noone and Ethan Anderson finished with 15 points each while Sebert totaled nine points. Fuhrmann had a team-high five assists. 

UW-Whitewater shot 55.3% from the field, including 63.6% (seven-of-11) from three-point range. The Warhawks shot 78.9% (15-of-19) at the line. 

Chislom led UW-Whitewater with 24 points while Jameer Barker finished with 13 and Miles Barnstable 10. Barnstable had a team-high four rebounds.

UWL returns to action Saturday, December 3 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m.