Sophomore guard Miles Barnstable helped lift the UW-Whitewater Men’s Basketball team over Augustana College 93-79. Barnstable led the team with 23 points and shot well from the perimeter as he hit six of his ten 3-point attempts.
The Warhawks recorded a pair of wins over the holiday. A home-win over Augustana, Tuesday, Nov. 21, and a road win at Ripon College 77-56, Saturday, Nov. 25. They improved to 5-0 on the season.
Barnstable recorded his third 20 point performance and continues to lead the team with 18.6 points per game.
“Most of it comes from the team,” Barnstable said. “We were getting it inside and the bigs were finding me. They were all kicking it out when they needed it to so it is all props to them for finding me when I was open, I was just able to knock them down.”
In the absence of the Warhawks’ usual starting point guard Jameer Barker against Augustana, Isaac Verges stepped up. The sophomore guard recorded 10 rebounds, 8 points and 2 blocks.
“Effort is the exact word that comes to mind when I think of Isaac,” head coach Jarod Wichser said. “He is a steady guy and a really capable defender. I thought he did an excellent job going and pulling down defensive boards.”
Trevon Chislom also helped fill a portion of the production lacking in Barker’s absence with a career-high 7 assists.
“It was just me playing to their defense. We knew they would play that zone so when I got in the middle I knew I would have at least one person to pass to each time,” Chislom said. “And my teammates were making shots so it worked out well for us.”
Whitewater expected the zone style defense from the Vikings, but the unfamiliar look kept the Warhawks shakey to start the game.
“The zone they played all game was different for us,” Barnstable said. “We just had to go through and adjust to them throughout the game. We started slow because we hadn’t seen it much but once we figured it out we started playing better.”
While Whitewater has not been able to put together a perfect 40 minute game of flawless basketball, they have been able to find ways to win.
“We have chemistry and that helps us in the long run,” Chislom said. “Sometimes certain people show up and certain people don’t, so you have to go with what is working and that is how we have been able to keep winning.”
The Warhawks have two more games on their road trip. Tuesday, Nov. 28 they compete against Carthage College, and Wednesday, Dec. 6 they take on Hope (Michigan). Whitewater will return to Kachel Gymnasium, Wednesday, Dec. 13 in a matchup versus Lawrence University.
