Dec. 12, 2009

Box Score

FARGO, ND - Ricky Franklin scored 23 points to lead three players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed an 84-73 win over North Dakota State Saturday night at the Bison Sports Arena.

The Panthers (7-4) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and then hung tough over the final 20 minutes.

James Eayrs, playing in front of a large group of supporters who followed him during his junior-college career in North Dakota, added 11 second-half points and 15 in the game.

Freshman Ja'Rob McCallum also pitched-in with 13 for Milwaukee, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Josh Vaughan scored 19 points and Eric Carlson 18 for NDSU (4-5).

The game was a rematch of last season's BracketBusters contest in Milwaukee, a contest won by the Bison en route to the NCAA Tournament.

This time, though, the Panthers started quickly and then remained steady in the closing moments.

UWM shot nearly 53 percent in the first half, with Franklin scoring 19 points and McCallum 11 over the first 20 minutes. Then, Milwaukee combined some key second-half offensive possessions with 11-of-14 free-throw shooting over the final 86 seconds to wrap up the win.

In fact, every time North Dakota State tried to make a run, Milwaukee had an answer. NDSU pulled within 50-43 early in the second half, but the Bison would never get any closer. A three by Lonnie Boga pushed the lead out to 62-48 with just under 11 minutes to play and a three by Eayrs kept the advantage at 67-55 with under six minutes remaining.

The Bison once more cut the lead to 67-59 with 4:35 left, but two free throws by Franklin followed by a great pass from Eayrs to Anthony Hill pushed the lead back to 71-59 with 3:29 remaining. NDSU did again get within seven late in the game, but UWM would never let them seriously threaten down the stretch.

After shooting just 35 percent over its last three games, Milwaukee shot almost 46 percent for the game and converted nine 3-pointers to go with 22 second-chance points and 25 points from the foul line.

"You know they are going to make shots. The way they run their offense and the types of shots they get, they are very efficient," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said of the Bison, who shot 61.5 percent in the first half. "It puts a lot of pressure on you on the offensive end because you say to yourself, `We have to make shots, because if we don't make shots, it will be hard to keep up with them.'

"It was good to see Ja'Rob McCallum make some shots. It was good to see Ricky Franklin get into a pace and he did a nice job off of the hesitate-and-go on the ball screens. It was good to see us kind of break through a little bit."

The Panthers found themselves in control of the game from the early going. After falling down 5-0, UWM countered with seven in a row and eventually built 17-9 lead on a jumper by Jerard Ajami. The lead grew to 24-13 on a three-pointer by McCallum with just over 11 minutes to play before NDSU struck back. The Bison scored 16 of the next 22 points to pull within 30-29, as Nate Zastrow knocked in a three with 7:11 remaining.

Milwaukee had the final run of the half, though, as four-straight points from Eayrs pushed the lead back to double digits before a three-point play by Franklin made it 46-33 with just over two minutes left in the half.

UWM now has a full week off before hosting Miami (Ohio) next Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The game tips off at 7 p.m.