Jan. 15, 2009

Box Score
Milwaukee Postgame Press Conference

MILWAUKEE - Tone Boyle scored 18 points and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee got a wide variety of contributions from its bench in claiming a 69-50 win over Youngstown State Thursday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers (11-6, 6-1 Horizon) limited the Penguins (5-11, 2-5) to just 27.4 percent shooting from the field while steadily pulling away for their eighth win in their last 10 games.

Deonte Roberts led the bench brigade with 12 points and seven rebounds, while James Eayrs added eight points and nine boards. Plus, Burleigh Porte tallied a collegiate-best 11 rebounds to go with two points and three blocks. And, senior Deion James had three points and three assists in 15 minutes.

Sirlester Martin had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Youngstown State.

"I thought the contributions off the bench were big for us, to see some guys come in and play with confidence and play well," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "We have a short turnaround on Saturday, and the way the rest of the season plays out, we're going to need a lot of bodies."

Milwaukee gradually built its lead throughout the game. A three by Boyle made it 26-18 with just over four minutes to play and UWM carried a 32-22 lead into locker room.

Then, a block by Porte led to a layin by Boyle, pushing the lead to 40-28 with just over 16 minutes to play in the game. A pair of Eayrs free throws with under 10 minutes left made it 50-33 before the lead finally hit 20 at 57-37 on a Boyle three-pointer with 6:51 remaining.

From there, Milwaukee emptied the rest of its bench and cruised to the victory.

But the story of the night was the play of the reserves while the game was still in the balance. Avery Smith, Ricky Franklin and Tony Meier each sat much of the first half with two fouls apiece, yet the Panthers hardly missed a beat.

"We need to make sure we have some guys ready," Jeter said. "We did make a decision early, even before this game, that we were going to get some bodies in there to play. We wanted to get back to how we kind of were at the beginning of the season and let some guys get in there and get some minutes."

The Panthers will wrap up their five-game homestand Saturday, hosting preseason league favorite Cleveland State in a 7 p.m. contest at the U.S. Cellular Arena.