Dec. 2, 2006

Box Score |  Quotes

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Despite a career-high 36 points from Avery Smith, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fell, 76-70, to Oakland on Saturday night. Smith made eight three-pointers for the Panthers (2-7), but the Grizzlies (5-4) made seven of eight free throws in the final minute to hold on for the victory.

"It came down to shooting free throws on the road," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "You've got to make plays down the stretch, you've got to stay aggressive and you have to make free throws. We didn't shoot well enough to win the game. They did a nice job of containing some of our players but we did have one erupt. It comes down to a few breaks that didn't go our way."

Milwaukee forced three ties down the stretch, but could never get over the hump. A Marcus Skinner dunk on a nice pass from Smith forced the final tie at 61-61 with 3:17 to play. After a jumper by Erik Kangas, Oakland's Johnathon Jones hit a three-pointer to extend the home team's lead to five.

After a UWM free-throw, Kangas hit the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer with the shot clock expiring that bounced on the front of the rim three times before falling through with a minute left. Free throws the rest of the way made the lead hold up.

The first tie of the second half came with 9:57 to go, when a lay-up and three-pointer by Smith made it 51-51. It was Smith again a minute later, draining another three - his eight-straight point - to make it 54-54.

Down 10 points at the start of the second, the lead stayed that way until Oakland took a 44-34 advantage at the 17:08 mark. UWM went on a streak at that point, scoring eight-unanswered, to get back in the game at 44-42. After a free throw by Shawn Hopes made it 45-42, Al Hanson was fouled shooting a three-pointer. He made two of three to get UWM back within one at 45-44.

A tight, back-and-forth game for most of the first, a jumper from Smith cut the Oakland lead to two at 21-19 with 8:28 to play in the half. After trading baskets for the next few minutes, the Golden Grizzlies went on to score 13 of the final 20 points of the half to take a 38-28 lead into the locker room.

Milwaukee hit a stretch late in the period that hurt, not scoring a basket for nearly five minutes on the clock. Kevin Massiah's lay-up made it a four-point OU lead with 6:35 to play. The next UWM hoop came with 1:44 left when Charlie Swiggett hit a three-pointer to make it 33-26.

Down 7-3 early, it was Smith who sparked the Panthers off the bench. He hit his first basket of the game to make it 7-5 at the 15:41 mark. Smith then caught fire, scoring 14 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. He hit his first six shots from the field - including two three-pointers - scoring 10-consective UWM points during one stretch.

However, the Grizzlies had two players in double-figures at the half, with Shawn Hopes and Erik Kangas both netting 10 points on a combined eight-of-11 from the floor, as the team shot 48.5% in the first compared to 37.5% by UWM.

Milwaukee returns to Wisconsin, but will be back on the road next week. The Panthers are at Missouri State Dec. 6, starting at 7 p.m.