Jan. 4

By Daniel Schoettler

The Warhawks men’s basketball team got its first win in WIAC play Saturday in a big 70-41 win over the UW-River Falls Falcons Saturday night in Kachel Gym.  The ’Hawks received another big night from junior guard K.J. Evans, who led the team with 21 points in the victory.

“We got two losses in the conference so far,” Evans said. “We just wanted to come out with as much intensity as possible.”  

The score was tied early in the game at seven, and from there the ’Hawks gradually built the lead up and scored nine of the last ten points heading into halftime.  In the first half, the team shot 48 percent from the field and held the Falcons to 31 percent.

The lead hit 20 in the second half, and it never dipped under the 20-point margin the rest of the way.  The largest lead of the game came at the 3:39 mark, after junior guard Steve Egan hit a free throw to put the team up 30 at 68-38.

The ’Hawks shot 49 percent from the field in the game while the Falcons shot only 35 percent. Head coach Pat Miller’s team had the advantage on the boards 36-29 with 11 of them being offensive rebounds.

The ’Hawks also dominated in the paint and in points off turnovers by having a 61-16 advantage in that category.

“The most positive thing about the win was that it was a complete defensive effort,” Miller said. “From start to finish we were able to take them out of what they were able to do.”

Senior guard Eric Bryson contributed with 20 points, including 4-6 from the three point arc. Aside from Evans’ 21 points, he also grabbed five rebounds on the night.

“I was able to get it going right away,” Evans said.  “My teammates came together and everybody had a good game. So it was just one of those games, we knew that we were pretty much last in the conference. So we just wanted to come out and get a win.”

The ’Hawks will head on the road to play UW-Oshkosh in another conference battle at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8.  The teams’ next home game will be against UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m. on Jan. 11.