Royal Purple

Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Mike Rybicki Dustin Mitchell (23) prepares to rebound as teammate Billy Kolinske?(33) goes up for a layup in the Warhawks' 79-45 victory over Eureka.

A week before the season opener, Warhawks Head Coach Pat Miller said he expected forward Rob Perry to assume the leadership role on this year's squad.

After Friday night's seemingly simple 79-45 victory over the Eureka College Red Devils in the first round of the UW-Whitewater Tip-Off tournament, Perry certainly sounded the part.

"We need more ball pressure, [and] we need to communicate more," Perry said. "If I had to grade our defense, I'd give it like a 'C,' and that's not going to cut it this year."

Although Perry wasn't satisfied with the effort, a glance at the box score told a tale of domination. The 'Hawks posted 41 second half points, and outmuscled the Red Devils on the glass all night, grabbing 35 rebounds to Eureka's 18.

"We didn't play great offensively, [and] we didn't play great defensively," Perry said. "We just did enough to win this game."

More importantly, it was enough to set up Saturday's championship game between the `Hawks and the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders.

UW-Whitewater again took advantage of its superior size, scoring 12 of its first 14 points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Raiders, often forced to shoot from the outside, managed just a 30.8 field goal percentage in the first half.

Ahead 44-20 at halftime, the 'Hawks lead ballooned up to 38 points in the second half, as the Raiders were sent home on the heels of an 87-56 defeat. Perry, who chipped in 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists against the Raiders, was named to the all-tournament team, while guard Matt Goodwin received the tournament's MVP award after scoring 27 points over the weekend.

Heading into the tournament, Miller also said the 'Hawks faced several uncertainties regarding the foundation of the team. Guard Kevin Koski, who added 11 points and provided a pair of dazzling assists in the championship game, believed the `Hawks began to find some answers.

"We got a little better feel of the rotation," Koski said. "Hopefully we can keep it up and play like we did this weekend. We've got to keep up our intensity and play defense, and that's going to win games for us."

The 'Hawks will load the bus and travel to Waukesha tonight for a showdown with Carroll College.

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