The men’s basketball team remains perfect after defeating UW-Eau Claire 68-59 Saturday and UW-La Crosse 60-45 Wednesday.
The ’Hawks will face UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m. in Stevens Point.
If the ’Hawks can come away with a win against the Pointers tonight, they will sit alone atop the WIAC. The Pointers are the reigning conference champs.
The Pointers are 6-2 and 2-0 in the WIAC this season and coach Pat Miller said he is expecting a battle.
“It’s always a tough game to go up to Steven’s Point,” Miller said. “They’re a very good team and it’ll be a good test for us.”
On Saturday, the ’Hawks improved to 8-0 in their first WIAC road game of the season. The Blugolds tested the ’Hawks in the first half, building an 11-point lead.
“The beginning of the game was pretty tough,” Warhawk junior Luke Knoble said.
“UW-Eau Claire was hitting a lot of shots, but we were able to stay competitive until halftime.”
Miller said the ’Hawks showed poise coming back to tie the game at 33 going into halftime.
“To go into their place and show that type of resiliency was good to see,” Miller said.
The ’Hawks played well to begin the second half and built a 10-point lead with 11 minutes remaining.
The Blugolds made a run to cut the lead down to one with about five minutes to play. However, senior Chris Davis and freshman Quardell Young made big baskets down the stretch to maintain the lead. The ’Hawks held on to win 68-59.
“They’re only 1-2 in conference, but UW-Eau Claire is a decent team and they played really hard tonight,” Miller said.
The ’Hawks were led by their two big men. Knoble posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Davis led all scorers with 22 points, including 4-8 from behind the arc, and was one rebound away from a double-double.
Miller said the team is confident heading into a huge early-season game against UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday. Still, Miller believes the team has much room for improvement.
“We’re playing really well defensively and that’s why we’re winning right now,” Miller said. “Offensively we’re still not playing great. We’re getting better and progressing but there’s still a long way to go.”
Miller said the key to improving offensively is execution, and Knoble agreed.
“Right now we’ll go and have one or two great possessions, but then we’ll follow it up by taking a couple bad shots, so we need to cut out those bad possessions,” Knoble said.
The team is currently 3-0 in conference play and a win against the Pointers, who are 2-0, will give the ’Hawks an early lead in the standings.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. and next week the team will travel to San Antonio for the National Invitational Tournament hosted by Trinity College. The men will play Willamette University Dec. 20 and Whitworth University Dec. 21.
