FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team gave No. 12 UW-Whitewater all it could handle for 30-plus minutes Friday night before the Warhawks finally pulled away for a 73-56 nonconference victory at the Cruzin Classic.
Whitewater (7-2) used a balanced attack to pick up the win, and the Warhawks had four players score in double figures. Eric Bryson paced the Warhawks with 16 points, Quardell Young had 15 and KJ Evans added 14.
Ryan DePouw led Lawrence (5-4) and all scorers with 17 points. Jamie Nikitas and Chris Siebert both added 14 points, and Nikitas had a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The teams traded the lead throughout the first half, and Lawrence trailed 32-31 after a DePouw 3-pointer with 3:15 left in the first half. The Warhawks then scored the final eight points of the first half to lead 40-32 at the break.
Whitewater’s lead hovered between five and 12 points through the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Warhawks were up 58-46 when the Vikings got back-to-back layups from Nikitas and Tyler Mazur to cut the margin to eight.
Whitewater countered with a layup from Young and a 3-pointer from Bryson to finally take control for good with 6:20 left. Lawrence didn’t get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
The Vikings now take a break for the holidays and do not return to action until they travel to St. Norbert College on Jan. 4.