Hawk men get 64-58 road win at Stout

 

There is an old, proven true adage in the WIAC. The adage simply states that any road win in the WIAC is a great win.  

The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team dominated the final five minutes vs. UW-Stout to hand the unbeaten Blue Devils a 64-58 defeat - Stout’s first loss of the season. 

Trailing 45-42 with just over five minutes remaining, Luke Knobel got a steal and ensuing short shot to pull the Hawks within one with 5:02 left.  The play seemingly gave Whitewater a burst of energy. 

Hawks’ forward took the game over by scoring 12 of his game-high 13 points in the final four minutes and 6 points in the final 15 seconds. 

With Whitewater leading by a scant 58-56 margin, Evans hit a baseline jumper from the deep corner. The Beloit native ended up in the first row of the bleachers as he was fouled on the play. He hit the free throw to give Whitewater a 62-56 lead with 15 seconds left. 

A driving lay-in by Stout’s Keith Rash cut the UWW lead to four with eight seconds remaining. 

Evans was fouled on the inbounds and applied the “dagger” by hitting both free throws. 

Evans led UW-W with 13 points and Eric Bryson 12.  Darnell Harris led the Warhawks with seven rebounds and sophomore guard Quardell Young dished out a game high six assists. Stout was led by Rash and Keith Oman with 14 apiece.  Blue Devil senior guard Chris Hortman, who came into the game averaging 14.8 points, was held to three points on 1-5 shooting. 

The Hawks won the game from the free throw line hitting 20 of 25 free throws including 17 of 20 in the second half.  Stout finished the game 12 of 21 from the line. 

Whitewater handed Stout its first loss of the season. Whitewater is now 5 & 0 and will play at UW-La Crosse on Wednesday.