Warhawk men defeat Northwestern (Minn) at St. Norbert Holiday Tournament

 The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team advanced to Sunday’s championship game of the St. Norbert Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament by defeating Northwestern College (Minn) 71-61 at the Schuldes Sports Center in DePere.

Whitewater rallied from a 34-20 halftime deficit outscoring the Eagles 42-27 in the second half.

The Warhawks followed a familiar formula to pick up the team’s 9^th win in 10 games.  Luke Knoble led four Hawks in double figures with 14 points. Reggie Hearn finished with 13, Quardell Young 12, and K.J. Evans with 11.  Darnell Harris and Alex Merg chipped in with 9 and 8 points respectively.

Merg, who led the Warhawks with 37 minutes of playing time, led Whitewater with a career-high 11 rebounds. UWW won the battle of the boards by a 42-32 margin.

Whitewater turned the ball over 10 times compared to 15 for Northwestern a team they defeated 83-68 in the opening round of last spring’s NCAA Division III national tournament at Kachel Gymnasium.

Tom Gisler, Wade Chitwood, and Matt Watnemo each scored 12 points for the Crusaders.