WHITEWATER, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's basketball team earned a 69-67 overtime victory at UW-Whitewater Saturday.
For the second consecutive game, the Falcons won on a clutch game-winning basket during the final moments of regulation. With the game knotted at 67-67 with 12 seconds left in overtime, a
Regan Merritt layup and free throw put UWRF ahead 68-67. UWW then committed a foul on the ensuing possession with just seconds remaining, and a
Rodrick Payne free throw sealed the two-point victory.
On Wednesday at UW-Eau Claire,
senior point guard Bryce Phillips led the Falcons to victory over the Blugolds with a last-second driving layup.
Three Falcons scored in double figures, led by
Noah Hanson's 23 points off 9-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 mark from beyond the arc. Payne followed with a double-double off 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.
UWRF shot 40 percent from the field while limiting the Warhawks to 38 percent shooting. The Falcons struggled at the free throw line despite the clutch free throw late from Merritt, going 8-for-18 at the charity stripe, matching a season-low percentage.
The Falcons opened the game with an 18-9 advantage near the midway point of the first half, capped off by a Hanson triple, UWRF's largest lead of the first half. They led by seven at the break before the Warhawks came back into the game in the second half.
Another Hanson three-pointer put UWRF up by 10 early in the second half, but the Warhawks responded, tying the game at 49-49 with eight minutes left in regulation. UWW tied the game a couple more times before earning its first lead of the night after a Derek Gray three-pointer put the home team up 56-55 with just under four minutes remaining.
With the Falcons trailing 60-58 with under a minute left in regulation, a pair of free throws by Phillips tied the game at 60-60, forcing overtime. UWRF then outscored UWW 9-7 in the OT period, including Merritt's clutch three-point play.
UW-River Falls, now 11-8 overall, improves to 4-6 in the WIAC while remaining unbeaten at 4-0 during overtime games this season.
