By Justin St. Peter

The Warhawks men’s basketball team withstood a late surge from the UW-Platteville Pioneers to win the hotly contested game 64-50. The win gives the `Hawks their fourth straight as they look to close out the regular season strong.

“This point in the season, you have to win games, and I thought we did what we needed to do,” head coach Pat Miller said.

The `Hawks got off to a slow start down 7-2. Following an Alex Merg three-point play, the `Hawks went on a 22-4 run. The team shot a scorching 57 percent from the field in the first half before they cooled off to a respectable 49 percent at the end of the game.

Miller was called for a technical foul when the Pioneers had the ball in the middle of the second half. He declined to divulge as to why afterwards.

The Pioneers went into a 1-3-1 zone that brought them within 6 points before the `Hawks figured the zone out and pulled away.

“Second half, they went to a 1-3-1 zone and disrupted us offensively, and we didn’t have very good rhythm,” Miller said. “We missed some open three’s and just got stagnant.”

The `Hawks went 8-8 from the free throw line to close it out.

“Obviously we have to make free throws, we contested them very well,” Miller said. “We defensive rebounded very well down the stretch.”

The `Hawks were led by sophomore guard Quardell Young who had 18 points on 8-12 shooting with four assists.

“He was great tonight,” Miller said. “He was very active. His decision making was very good. He was able to get to the rim. When he hits those mid-range shots, he is awfully difficult to defend.”

Darnell Harris had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Eric Bryson had a highlight reel dunk on a fast break in the first half over a Pioneers defender. He had 12 points and seven rebounds. Luke Knoble also contributed 10 points, but played limited minutes due to foul trouble.

The Pioneers were led by Chas Cross who totaled 20 points and eight rebounds. Rob Stallion added 10 points and three steals.

The `Hawks have three more WIAC games left in the regular season. They hope to avenge an early season loss to the UW-Superior Yellowjackets at home at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“We will have a little anger from the first meeting on the mind,” Miller said. “We just have to execute, and we are a different team than we were then. We are a better team than we were now.”

WIAC Scoreboard

UW-River Falls 72                                                             UW-Lacrosse 62

UW-Superior 69                                                                                UW-Stout 48

UW-Stevens Point 62

UW-Oshkosh 52