Nov. 13, 2009

Box Score |  Postgame Audio and Video

MILWAUKEE - Ricky Franklin scored a team-high 21 points and James Eayrs added a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team to an 89-73 victory over Concordia - St. Paul Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Panthers (1-0) built their lead over the Golden Bears (0-1) from eight to 19 points with a second-half surge, eventually leading 82-63 with just over four minutes to play and cruising to the win from there.

Four of the five starters finished in double-figures for Milwaukee, with Deonte Roberts adding 12 points and Tony Meier chipping in with 11. Wisconsin native Craig Heiman led Concordia with a game-high 23 points. With the win, the Panthers improve to 5-0 in home openers and 4-1 in season openers overall under head coach Rob Jeter.

Milwaukee ended the game shooting 46.5% from the field despite a tough night from behind the three-point line. UWM missed its first 15 three-point attempts, not making one until Franklin connected just 48 seconds before intermission. The team ended 3-for-24 from distance, giving them a 63.8% clip on its two-point attempts (30-of-47).

"Well, I guess I will state the obvious," Jeter said. "To look at our shooting percentage and go 46-percent, knowing that we shot that poorly from beyond the arc means that we were making shots inside the three. I thought we had some pretty solid looks; we just didn't make them tonight. Concordia came in, they fought and they played hard. It's just one of those things that happens. You see it early in a lot of games. We didn't shoot the ball very well yet I thought in the second half we kept the game under control."

The Panthers used a 9-to-2 run to end the first half, turning a 39-39 tie into a 48-41 halftime lead. Milwaukee maintained that lead into the second half and pushed its advantage from eight to 10 on a Eayrs layup at the 8:52 mark. The team outscored Concordia 18-to-7 over the next four-plus minutes, building the cushion to its largest at 82-63 with 4:22 remaining. UWM would lead by at least 13 the rest of the way.

The Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and looked to runaway with it, but the Golden Bears used the three-pointer to stay in it. They connected on 6-of-7 in the first half, tying the game at 25-25 on a Chris Hamblin layup with 8:08 to go in the first. The game went back and forth from there, as the teams battled through six ties and four lead changes over the next five minutes.

Up Next, UWM faces Western Kentucky in the NIT Season Tipoff Monday in Baton Rouge.