ROCHESTER, Mich. - Three different players recorded double-doubles as the Milwaukee men's basketball team led the entire second half in claiming a 93-85 victory over Oakland University Thursday night at the O'rena.
 
"I was really pleased with how our guys defended," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "I thought down the stretch we defended well, we defended hard and we didn't have that lull at the end of the game."
 
The Panthers (16-9, 7-5 Horizon League) led the Golden Grizzlies (17-9, 9-4 Horizon League) by just three at halftime before pushing their advantage to as many as 15 in the second half. The defense held off a final push and the offense finished the game by making its last seven shots to snap OU's winning streak at six games.
 
"We had to make shots to put these guys away and we did a nice job," Jeter said. "When I look at the stat sheet and see their shooting percentage at only 39 percent and that we won the rebounding battle, I am pretty pleased with that."
 
Oakland came into the game ranked No. 23 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
 
Matt Tiby led the way with 24 points and 11 rebounds, taking over the game when the Grizzlies trimmed the margin to five around the six-minute mark by scoring seven points in a row for UWM, including a key three-pointer that all but sealed it.
 
J.J. Panoske had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Johnson finished with 14 points and 10 assists – his third game in a row with a points/assists double-double.
 
"That's phenomenal," Jeter said in regards to the trio of double-doubles. "J.J. was big for us tonight and Tiby, of course, but Jordy just runs our team. He's our quarterback."
 
All five starters finished in double-figures, with the Panthers shooting 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the floor in the game. Austin Arians had 18 (five 3's) and Akeem Springs went for 14 points, seven boards and four assists.
 
Kay Felder had 22 points, 12 assists and six boards to lead the home team.
 
Milwaukee tried to pull away after halftime, and Cody Wichmann's layup gave it a 64-50 cushion. But an 8-2 answer made it interesting at 66-58 and forced a timeout with just over eight minutes to play.
 
Tiby's back-to-back baskets in the paint got the lead back to seven at 72-65 and his three-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession hit nothing but net to make it 75-65 with under four minutes to play.
 
"Coming into this, we knew we were going to have to take some three's and make some, and I am really pleased that Tiby made that one," Jeter said. "It was huge, it really put them back on their heels with that three-point make."
 
A Panoske dunk made it 84-76 and Felder fouled out shortly after with 1:47 left. Oakland tried to play the fouling game, but a 5-of-6 effort from the line in the final minute iced the win.
 
The Panthers held a slim 42-39 advantage after a first half that featured three ties and six different lead changes. The defense started strong, forcing misses on 13 of Oakland's first 16 shot attempts on the evening, holding it to 35.3 percent in the period.
 
The Golden Grizzlies grabbed the first lead, but a 7-0 UWM scoring run gave it a 9-6 advantage at the first media timeout. Another scoring run, this time 9-0 – including six points in a span of 44 seconds by Tiby – made it 20-12 Milwaukee and Panoske's thunderous dunk down the lane made it 22-14 at the 11:11 mark.
 
Oakland made a dent, but Arians' 4-point play extended the lead back to six and another Arians' triple on the nest possession pushed it to its largest of the first half at 33-24 with just over six minutes to play.
 
A 7-2 OU spurt closed the gap to help force an eventual tie, with Johnson's three in the closing seconds providing the difference at intermission.
 
The Panthers won the rebounding battle overall, 42-37, and made an impressive 19 of 21 from the free throw line. They also held Oakland under 40 percent from the field (.392) on the night.
 
Up next, the Panthers remain on the road and travel to play Detroit Saturday. Game time is set to tipoff at 2 p.m. CST.