MILWAUKEE - The defense of the Milwaukee men's basketball team was at it again, holding Cleveland State to 34 percent shooting in a 70-47 victory Saturday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (12-12, 5-6 Horizon League) knocked off the Vikings (5-18, 2-8 Horizon League) to post their first three-game winning streak of the season. The defense led the way, holding its third straight opponent under 40 percent from the floor.
 
"I think the defense was the champion today," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "When we struggled from the onset offensively and tried to get in a rhythm, our defense was stellar in the first half. We finally started to get our rhythm in the second half, taking advantage of some things."
 
The 47 points allowed also marked a season-best for the defense and the result gives the Panthers 12 victories – more than all of last season.
 
"Our defense was very good and I am looking forward to the opportunity to see the film more and getting better for our game against UIC on Monday," Baldwin said.
 
Bryce Nze led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds, the fourth double-double of his career. The 18 points marked a season high and the 11 boards was just one off his career-best. He went 7-of-9 from the floor and added two assists and two steals.
 
Bryce Barnes added 14 points, hitting a couple of three-pointers at key times on the day. Brock Stull contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Kenny Carpenter led the Vikings with 15 points and 8 rebounds, one of just two players in double-figures.
 
Nze hit a three out of the halftime break to put Milwaukee up 15 at 31-16 and it looked as though the game may have gotten away from CSU. Not to be, as the visitors responded with nine in a row as part of a 12-2 run to get back within five at 33-28.
 
A Barnes three-pointer pushed the lead back to 10 at 38-28 and it was 10 again at 42-32. The Vikings had one last push in them, back within five at 42-37. It was Barnes to the rescue again, hitting another huge 3 to extend the lead to 45-37 with 10:08 to play.
 
From there it was all Panthers. Brett Prahl's layup at the 7:18 mark had it back to 15, with Milwaukee scoring 28 of the final 38 points of the afternoon.
 
A bit scattered at the start for the Panthers, a 9-0 run got them right back in the contest and handed them a 12-6 lead on a corner 3 from Jeremiah Bell at the 14:19 mark.
 
The game took a defensive turn both ways, with the scoreboard stuck at 15-12 for almost four minutes where the teams combined to make just two of 17 attempts in the stretch.
 
Once UWM got back on track on a Barnes leaner in the lane with just over five minutes remaining, it was all Panthers. The run grew to 9-0 on a Stull 3 at the end of the shot clock, forcing a CSU timeout at 25-14 with just under three minutes left.
 
Stull wasn't done there, knocking down a triple from the corner to extend the run to 12-0 and double-up the Vikings at 28-14. The defense held Cleveland State to 27.3 percent (6-of-22) shooting over the first 20 minutes, with the 16 points allowed a season-best at the break (prior was 21).
 
Milwaukee ended the day at 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the floor, finishing with another dominant edge on the glass at 41-26. CSU ended up at 34 percent (17-of-50).
 
Up next, Milwaukee plays its fifth game in a row at home, welcoming UIC Monday. The third contest in the past five days will tip off at 7 p.m.