Feb. 7, 2004

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The odds seemed stacked against them.

With Dylan Page, the Horizon League's leading scorer, slowed by an ankle injury that required a cast up to nearly his knee and Ed McCants, UWM's second-leading scorer, on the bench with four fouls and 10:38 remaining in the game, the Panthers trailed, 52-50, in their first-place battle with Wright State.

But, behind a double-double by Joah Tucker, key three-pointers by Page and Chris Hill and a gutty defense effort that limited the Raiders to just 37 percent from the field, UWM took a huge step toward its first-ever Horizon League regular season championship with a 72-66 win over Wright State Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers (16-6, 11-1 Horizon), playing just 40 hours after suffering their first loss of the league season at UIC, moved two games ahead of both Wright State and UW-Green Bay with just four games to play. UWM also swept both teams during the regular season, meaning they hold the tiebreaker for any seeding in the post-season tournament.

Tucker led the way with 17 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and six assists. McCants added 15 in just 24 minutes while Page and Kalombo Kadima tossed in 10 points apiece. UWM also got great efforts from Nate Mielke, who scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked four shots and Chris Hill, who added eight points off the bench.

Drew Burleson led the Raiders (12-10, 9-3) with 14 points, while Seth Doliboa had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

But the story the energetic crowd of 4,118 will remember is the tough effort of Page, who injured his ankle late in the UIC game Thursday, did not practice Friday and was questionable until gametime on Saturday. He added five rebounds to his 10 points and played 31 minutes.

"I had two game plans," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "I think Joah knew he was going to have to do more. These guys are so unselfish, but sometimes you have to take a game over.

"After the game on Thursday, it looked like there was no way Dylan would play today. But he told the trainer he would be ready. He played heroically for us."

Page said the thought of missing a game that could help UWM win the league title never really crossed his mind.

"Once I got in the game, I tried to not even notice it," Page said. "It hurt, but I can deal with the pain. We needed this win."

Wright State coach Paul Biancardi said he never doubted Page would be in the lineup.

"I don't know him, but I think he's a pretty tough kid and they're a pretty tough team," Biancardi said. "I was not surprised he was out there."

The game was fairly well-played, though neither team shot the ball well. UWM, the nation's eighth-best shooting team, made just 42.1 percent of its shots while the Raiders made just 37 percent. But neither team turned the ball over, with UWM committing a season-low five turnovers and Wright State committing just eight.

"It was a good game," Biancardi said. "It was played with a high level of intensity. I thought both teams played very hard defensively. The difference in the game was their ability to make key shots at crucial times."

UWM led by as many as seven points in the first half and again by as many as seven in the second half before the Raiders rallied. The Panthers took the lead for good on a jumper by Mielke with 6:01 remaining though could not put the game away until Tucker hit two free throws with 18 seconds remaining.

UWM returns to action Thursday night, hosting Loyola at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The game, which is part of a doubleheader with the UWM women, will begin at 7:30 p.m.