The UW-Whitewater Basketball team fell victim to the UW-La Crosse offensive attack, losing their fourth conference game 85-75 Jan. 24. In a season where the Warhawks allowed just over 70 points per game, they couldn’t put an end to the aggression that the Eagles brought to the table.
“I give them a lot of credit because they just keep coming and coming,” head coach Jarod Wichser said. “La Crosse is a good team and they will do that to you if you are not ready to go.”
The Warhawks set the tone early, posting a 9-0 run in the first 2:35. The Eagles found a groove on offense after a timeout call, but they couldn’t stop Trevon Chislom and the Warhawk offense, who started off shooting 9-for-11 from the field.
Eventually, the Eagles found a hole in the Warhawk defense and exploited it by going on a 10-0 run to tie the game. From there, Wichser told his team to settle down.
“It’s a game of runs so as a player you have to think about ‘what is it that we have to do?’” Wischer said. “What advantage do we have? What can we exploit?”
The Warhawks still struggled on defense but they caught back up on offense, taking the lead back by the end of the half. Through shooting 53.1% and scoring 28 points in the paint, they possessed a 38-36 lead.
A massive contributor to the lead was forward Trevon Chislom, who scored 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the first half. He ended the game with 23 on 10-for-11 shooting.
“I feel like I wasn’t forcing anything,” Chislom said. “My teammates were getting me in open spots and I was just hitting them.”
The Eagles went on a huge 11-2 run to kick off the second half and they never looked back. They shot 55.2% from the field and 75% from three-point range, using an effective pick-and-roll offense and a balanced scoring attack to continue their offensive dominance throughout the half.
“We got to work on our defense and our effort on defense,” junior guard Jameer Barker said. “We gotta go harder in practice every day if we want to keep on winning games because every game in the conference is going to be hard.”
The Warhawks never regained the lead after the Eagles’ run, ending in their fourth loss in the last five games. Chislom and Barker led the Warhawks on offense with 23 and 21 points respectively, and sophomore guard Miles Barnstable was not too far behind with 18. As for the Eagles, five players scored in double digits led by Austin Westra with 19.
“[Balanced scoring] was on top of our scout as one of their strengths,” Wischer said. “That makes it very difficult to defend, but that’s how I want our guys to move it.”
With this loss, the Warhawks dropped to 13-5 overall, but more concerningly 3-4 in the WIAC. As of Jan. 24, that stands as tied for fourth in the conference behind UW-Platteville (6-1), UW-La Crosse (5-2), and UW-River Falls (5-2).
Huge Second Half Propels Warhawks past Blugolds
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Men’s Basketball exploded in the second half to sweep UW-Eau Claire in the season series. The Warhawks defeated the Blugolds, 80-58, after the game was tied 35-35 at halftime.
The first half was back to back, with four lead changes and three-times tied. The Warhawks had the lead in their favor for the majority of the time though. With three minutes remaining, UW-Whitewater went on a 8-0 run, pulling ahead by 10-points with only 2-minutes remaining in the half. The Blugolds, however, did not want to head back to the locker room down by 10. In the final minutes of the half, the Blugolds went on a 10-0 run of their own, tying the game at 35 a-piece after a last second put-back fell through the hoop.
After allowing a 10-0 run to end the half, the Warhawks quickly regained control of the game, starting the quarter out on a 16-4 run. In just five minutes, the Warhawks only allowed the Blugolds to score four points and jumped out to a 12 point lead.
Keeping their foots on the gas, the Warhawks kept extending the lead, making crucial shots and hitting their free throws down the stretch. The Warhawks had their biggest lead of the night as time expired, taking the 80-58 victory.
After their win over UW-Eau Claire, the Warhawks are back in action Jan. 31 against UW-Oshkosh, and return to Kachel Gymnasium Feb. 3 against UW-Stout.
