By Daniel Schoettler
Correspondent
The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team finished their non-conference schedule 11-0 this past week after two wins at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. The team also beat Lawrence University and Central (Iowa) this past week to help tune up for WIAC play.
On Dec. 29, the Warhawks beat Lawrence University. Scotty Tyler continued his scoring ways with 30 points, while Chris Jones had 17 before missing the game the following day with an injury.
“He (Tyler) played well,” UW-Whitewater men’s basketball coach Pat Miller said. “He is very efficient right now and is taking good shots, scoring in different ways, which is what we want him to do.”
The Warhawks were up 44-38 at the half before pulling away in the second half to beat Lawrence University 97-71.
“Overall, it was a sloppy first half; we didn’t play very well defensively,” Miller said. “The second half was much better defensively, we controlled the game better.”
UW-Whitewater shot 53.7 percent from the field in the win, while making 12 threes in the game. The Warhawks also shot 27 for 43 from the free throw line in the contest.
Lawrence University shot 44.3 percent from the field in the loss, while only making eight three pointers. They shot nine for 12 from the free throw line.
Lawrence University was led by both Jeremy Stephani and Ben Peterson with 10 points each. Peterson was also the leading rebounder with a double-double with 10 rebounds.
On Dec. 30, the Warhawks extended their winning streak to 11 with a 79-68 win against Central. Andre Brown was the leading scorer for the Warhawks with 16 points, while UW-Milwaukee transfer Derek Rongstad had 15.
“He is adapting well and he picks things up very quickly,” Miller said. “He gives us a lot of depth because he can guard one through four, and he is a very good perimeter shooter.”
Mitchell Pfeifer had 13, while freshman Zach Knobloch had 12 to contribute to the cause in the win. Brown was the leading rebounder with seven, while Scotty Tyler had six rebounds.
Central was led by Colby Tyler with 21 points, while Trashawn Boyd had 14. Nick Drucker and Pete Walker both scored seven points apiece in the loss.
“It was a good game and good intensity to the game,” Miller said. “They were an NCAA tournament team from last year with a lot of seniors, so it was good test for us.”
The Warhawks shot 38.6 percent from the field in the win, and made 11 three pointers in the game. UW-Whitewater made 14 of 16 free throws in the contest.
“We came out and shot the ball well in the first half,” Miller said. “We controlled the game, and in the second half we were able to extend the lead.”
Central shot 40.4 percent from the field in the game, while only making nine three point field goals. They shot 13 for 17 from the free throw line.
With the two wins, the Warhawks closed out the non-conference side of the schedule 11-0.
Miller is not sure how to predict how the conference schedule will play out.
“It is hard to tell, the conference has had a lot of quality wins,” Miller said. “My expectation is it is going to be difficult and that we will get tested.”
Coverage from this week’s game will be included in next week’s issue.
