As the clock slowly ticked away, the players on the Whitewater Men’s basketball team had a familiar feeling, that feeling was winning.
*Last Friday night in the Williams Center on the UW- Whitewater campus, the Whitewater Warhawks beat the La Crosse Eagles 66-55, in a game that was much closer than the final score seemed to suggest.*
The Warhawks fought hard and played as a team to earn the victory. This wasn’t an easy game because it was a conference tournament game, so records were thrown out the window.
“We played decent, but we are a way better team than how we played.” Senior Forward Alex Edmunds said after the game ended. Even without playing their best, the Warhawks did show they can play through adversity and contain their composure.
Holly Petrauskas, student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, said “I enjoyed watching it, it was pretty intense and it was a close game.” For the better part of the game, it was neck and neck.
The lead changed a couple of different times in the second half and it looked like it would go down to the wire. Fortunately for the Warhawks, they pulled away at the end with some timely shots and solid defense.
Alex Edmunds and the rest of the defense played solid and forced some turnovers near the end of the game, which ending up being a key factor in winning the game for the Warhawks. Along with the solid defense, the free throws helped the Warhawks pull out the game in their favor.
In the second half alone, the Warhawks made 24 free throws and 26 for the game. Amanda Sedlmeier, student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, said “I’m glad they won, but there were too many fouls and that made me lose interest in the game.” Luckily, that was the only thing the Warhawks lost on Friday.
Even though the Warhawks lost their next game in the conference championship game, they still made the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and are playing Northwestern of Minnesota on Friday, March 2. They are looking to have a deep run in the tournament and hopefully make the championship game.