By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE - Adrian Tigert sank a free throw with 4.2 seconds left, giving the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee a 59-58 win over Detroit in the Horizon League championship Tuesday night and the second NCAA tournament berth in the school's history.

The Panthers (24-5) trailed most of the night and missed 11-of-24 free throws, including Tigert's first free throw at 4.2 seconds.

After Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl called a timeout and instructed the rest of the starters to set up on defense, Tigert stepped up to the line with nothing but red shirts around him and calmly sank his second shot.

Freshman Brandon Cotton, who led all scorers with 21 points, brought the ball upcourt and was off-target on a contested jumper that would have sent the Titans to the NCAA tournament at 15-15.

Ed McCants' 18 points led the Panthers, who held Detroit scoreless over the final 2 minutes to avoid losing the tournament title game at home for the second straight season.

Joah Tucker added 15 points and Boo Davis 12 for Milwaukee, which also won the regular-season conference crown.

The Panthers went 13-1 at home this season with its only loss coming to Detroit, a 78-68 on Jan. 3. Milwaukee avenged that loss 2 weeks later with a 61-48 win at Detroit.

The Panthers didn't cut down the nets when they won the regular-season title at home - by a four-game margin - preferring to wait until winning the tournament title and the automatic NCAA bid that goes along with it.

After reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2003, the Panthers got ahead of themselves last year when they won the regular season and then lost the tournament title game to rival Illinois-Chicago, also at U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Titans, who went 0-13 this season when failing to score 60 points, were going for their first tournament title since 1999.

Cotton's 11 first-half points helped Detroit take a 30-24 halftime lead, and Muhammad Abdur-Rahim's basket to open the second half gave the Titans their biggest lead at 32-24. The Panthers responded with three straight 3-pointers, two by McCants, the conference's player of the year, to go ahead 33-32, their first lead since 2-0.

McCants' two free throws with 10:22 remaining capped the Panthers' 17-4 run and gave Milwaukee a 41-36 lead. But he Titans came back with nine straight points, taking a 45-41 lead on Cotton's two free throws with 7:11 left.

The Panthers trailed until Tucker sank two free throws with 55 seconds left to tie it at 58.

Cotton missed an underhand layup but Ryvon Covile got the rebound and Chris Hill fouled out with 28 seconds left. Covile missed both free throws, however. The Titans were 11-of-16 from the line.

Tigert spun toward the hoop on the Panthers' last possession, but his shot rimmed out as he was fouled by Covile. After he sank his second shot for a 59-58 lead, Titans coach Perry Watson chose not to use his final timeout.

The crowd of 10,783 was the largest in Panthers' history, besting the 10,254 who showed up for last year's tournament championship.