Basketball continues to lose, needs to rebound

During a three game streak, the Warhawk men struggle to clean the glass

Sophomore+Kale+Bailey+shoots+from+outside+against+Ripon+College.+Bailey+finished+with+8+points+and+8+assists.+

Dane Sheehan

Sophomore Kale Bailey shoots from outside against Ripon College. Bailey finished with 8 points and 8 assists.

Ross Guyette, Assistant Sports Editor

Coach Pat Millers Unit is falling on hard times.

Three consecutive losses have the Warhawks reeling. Losses are piling up at the wrong time as a young team attempts to find their identity amongst a challenging start to their schedule this season.

Miller headed into the season knowing he and his team were going to be dealing with adversity. Dealing with younger and inexperienced players has had mixed results as now the Warhawks sit at 2-4 after a 2-1 start to their season.

There are important takeaways from the last three losses, including a lack of shooting and a lack of rebounding. Against the last three opponents they have been either outmatched in a large margin in rebounds or shooting percentage from inside and outside of the arch.

Coach Miller had positive energy despite a slower start than desired, “Our guys do not lack energy or competitiveness. We will be better, I am not worried about the identity of our team.”

When losing to Ripon College, Warhawk scraped and clawed ‘till the very end, shooting 58 percent from the three and 50 percent overall. Although impressive numbers, they fell 1 point short as Ripon nailed a buzzer beater to clinch the win 71-70.

This was a tough loss, but many around the team felt they were going to rebound, “This was hard to go through, our guys fought hard all game and to come up short like this always leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” said sophomore guard Kale Bailey who has been brilliant for the Warhawks this season.

Unfortunately this is where trouble bit again as they were only able to muster 23 percent from the three point line and 45 percent overall. The ‘Hawks have heart and have scraped alongside every team they have matched up against, something every team should be proud of.

Unable to come back from deficits against Monmouth, Coach Miller’s team fought hard but fell short as time expired 66-71. Although they only lost by 5, Warhawks were out rebounded 23-32.

With No. 17 Augustana coming to town, the ‘Hawks knew there was a huge challenge ahead of them, as Augustana will likely make the NCAA tournament at seasons end.

Sophomore Kale Bailey took the loss to heart and proved it on the court in the following game, leading the flock of Warhawks with 23 points in 37 minutes against visiting Augustana. This is where the good news slows down for the home team as both shooting and rebounding were in favor of Augustana.

Unable to come back from double digit leads in both the first and second half the Warhawks fell 69-86. Shooting 65 percent from the three compared to 29 percent from Whitewater, the Warhawks struggled to find consistent offense against the suffocating offense of Augustana.

Whitewater looks to rebound in a big way both literally and figuratively against Calvin College December 6th.