By Daniel Schoettler
Correspondent
Whitewater Warhawk Scotty Tyler made history by scoring 45 points in a game against Ripon College, which gave him the single-game scoring record in Warhawk history.
“He was great,” UW-Whitewater Men’s Basketball coach Pat Miller said. “As happy as I am about his scoring, I liked the way he scored inside and scored from the three-point line and got to the free-throw line… he did such an exceptional job defensive rebounding late in the game and gave us that defensive rebounding presence.”
Tyler’s 45 points helped Whitewater earn a victory over Ripon on Dec. 21, which capped a 2-0 week for the Warhawks.
It was a battle of undefeated teams at the Kachel Gym as the Warhawks faced Ripon. Ripon got off to a 10-4 run after Koy Brecklin hit two free throws, but the Warhawks and the Red Hawks went back and forth for most of the first half.
The Red Hawks, who shot an incredible 75 percent from the field in the first half built their lead back up to eight at the half after five quick points from Ty Sabin to get a 55-47 lead to the locker room.
“I was proud of our guys that were able to withstand a 75-percent performance by them in the first half,” Miller said. “We didn’t defend great, but I give them a lot of credit.”
In the second half, Ripon’s Cal Schultz pushed the lead up to nine with a layup, With 13:33 remaining in the game, Sabin bumped the lead to double digits before the Warhawks cut the Ripon lead to one at 71-70 on a basket by sophomore Andre Brown.
Brown and Tyler put the Warhawks up for good on back-to-back possessions from three-point range to give the team an 82-80 lead with 7:12 remaining. After a Chris Jones jumper to give the Warhawks a five-point advantage, Tyler hit six free throws late in the half to break the school record for single game scoring.
The previous scoring record was 43, which had been done three separate times.
The Warhawks would wrap the game up from the line with free throws to get the 109-96 win.
Chris Jones scored 27 in the win, while Andre Brown also scored over 20 points with 23. Tyler was also the leading rebounder with a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Ty Sabin led the way for Ripon with 40 points. Brendon McCoy had 16 for the Red Hawks, while Cal Schultz had 14.
In the win, the Warhawks shot 52.5 percent from the field, while making 14 of 26 from three-point range. The team shot 88.6 percent from the free throw line in the win.
In the game for Ripon, the Red Hawks shot 54.5 percent from the field, while only making six three pointers in the contest. Ripon shot 75 percent from the free throw line in the loss.
Earlier in the week on Dec. 19, the Warhawks improved to 8-0 with a 85-60 win at home against Trine. The team started the game off with three straight threes from freshman Zach Knobloch to get a 9-0 lead and never looked back.
“He had some good looks early and knocked shots down,” Miller said. “That is always a great situation for us because he forces teams to get out and guard and stretches the floor and creates opportunities for other people.”
In the win on Monday, the Warhawks hit 14 three pointers, eight of those came from Knobloch, who led the team with 24 points in the win. Brown scored 12 and junior Chris Jones scored 10, as both of them split time at the point guard position in the win.
“We have different ways to score, which is a positive,” Miller said.
UW-Whitewater shot 50 percent from the field in the win, while going 14 for 27 from three-point range. In the win, the Warhawks made all but six of their free throws going 13-for-19 from the line.
With the two wins this past week, the Warhawks improve to 9-0 on the year. They will play Lawrence University on Dec. 29 and Central (Iowa) on Dec. 30 in a tournament at the JustAgame Field House at Wisconsin Dells.
Whitewater starts WIAC play against UW-La Crosse on Jan. 4 at home at 7 p.m.
