Battle for second rages in the WIAC

With UW-River Falls running away from the pack in the WIAC, the rest of the teams must battle it out for second.

Two teams in the muddled middle of the standings met up Wednesday night, with UW-Whitewater pulling out an 80-74 victory over UW-Stevens Point at home.

The Warhawks (15-3, 4-3 conference), who are ranked 24th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, and the Pointers (9-8, 3-4) entered the game as two of five teams tied for second in the standings. And while Point is banned from the postseason, Whitewater is fighting for a first-round bye in the conference tournament in late February.

Chris Jones, who finished with 22 points, hit a short jumper to tie the score at 62-62, and then he hit two free throws to give Whitewater the lead for good, 64-62, with 5:16 remaining.

UW-River Falls 70, UW-Stout 58: After the Blue Devils (12-6, 3-4 WIAC) tied the game with the first basket of the second half, the host No. 5 Falcons (17-1, 7-0) gained control with a 19-7 run.

Alex Herink led the way for Falls with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

UW-Eau Claire 83, UW-Platteville 58: The 17th-ranked Blugolds (14-4, 4-3 WIAC), who got 22 points from Chris Duff, led by 20 at halftime and coasted past the visiting Pioneers.

Eau Claire shot 58.1% from the field in the first half in building a 42-22 lead.

UW-Oshkosh 61, UW-La Crosse 55: The Titans (11-7, 4-3 WIAC) broke a 28-28 tie in the second half with a 12-2 run as they held off the host Eagles (10-8, 2-5).

Ben Boots led the charge for Oshkosh in the second half with 11 of his team-high 16 points.

Ripon 70, Beloit 58: Ty Sabin scored 21 points for the Red Hawks (13-3, 9-2 Midwest Conference), who led by 19 points at the break and coasted past the visiting Buccaneers (4-12, 2-9).

St. Norbert 77, Lawrence 57: A 15-5 run to open the second half put the 13thranked Green Knights (13-3, 10-1 Midwest) in charge against the Vikings (7-8, 7-4) in Appleton.

Lakeland at Concordia, ppd.: The game between the Muskies and Falcons in Mequon was postponed due to the winter storm and unsafe driving conditions.

Marian 85, Wisconsin Lutheran 82: Evan Hansen’s two free throws with 1:18 left put the Sabres (6-12, 5-8 NACC) ahead to stay against the Warriors (9-10, 6-7) in Fond du Lac.

Carthage 69, Carroll 60: In Waukesha, the Red Men (12-6, 5-4 CCIW) got revenge for a loss to the Pioneers (10-8, 5-4) earlier this season behind 16 points from Mike Stevenson and 13 points and 12 rebounds from Brad Perry.

Cardinal Stritch 72, Judson 60: Carlos Knox had 17 points for the Wolves (12-12, 8-6 CCAC), who led by 15 at halftime and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way by the visiting Eagles (7-14, 4-10).