Jan. 24, 2010

Box Score
Jeter Postgame Audio

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Norris Cole hit a three-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining to give Cleveland State a thrilling 73-72 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Sunday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.

Cole's shot came from just to the right of the top of the key following a timeout with just over 11 seconds remaining. The Panthers then had two chances to win the game in the final seconds as Ja'Rob McCallum had his driving layin blocked out of bounds with 1.1 seconds remaining before Milwaukee's inbounds pass into the lane was batted away following heavy contact as time expired.

Cole scored 22 to lead Cleveland State (9-12, 5-4 Horizon), which trailed by as many as 14 points early in the second half.

Ricky Franklin had 23 points to lead UWM (12-9, 4-5), which shot 52.2 percent from the field overall and made 11 three-pointers but could not pull out a second-straight league road win.

McCallum added 15 points and James Eayrs 10 for the Panthers. Jeremy Montgomery contributed 18 points and D'Aundray Brown 12 for the Vikings.

UWM looked like it was going to pull the game out in spite of the CSU comeback, as Milwaukee turned a 68-65 deficit into a 72-68 lead with 1:12 remaining. But, first Brown scored on a layin and then Cole hit the three that gave the Vikings the lead back.

Following a stoppage to review the shot and the clock, McCallum raced the ball up the court but had his attempt knocked away. Again the officials reviewed the clock and put 1.1 seconds up, giving Milwaukee a final chance.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Anthony Hill appeared to be held with two arms as the Panthers tried to throw the ball in. With the resulting scrum in the lane, the Panthers were forced to lob the ball into traffic and saw it knocked away as time expired.

"I just thought there were a lot of arms around a big body. I see some heads shaking in here, too," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said of the final play. "It's just unfortunate it turned out that way."

Cleveland State's pressure defense played a big part in sparking the comeback, as the Vikings wound forcing 17 turnovers while converting them into 18 points.

"It was a hard-fought effort by both teams. Both teams did the things they needed to do to get themselves in position to win that game," Jeter said. "We were just trying to weather the storm. We knew it was going to come down to our bigs against their smaller, quicker players. We just had that little in-between time there where we got a little tentative."

The Vikings' surge started after a three-pointer by Jerard Ajami gave Milwaukee a 48-34 lead with 17:24 to play in the game. The Panthers still led, 57-46, with 11:33 remaining, but the Vikings scored the next 10 to pull within a point before a three-pointer by Montgomery evened things at 59 with eight minutes left.

That set up the tight finish.

"You knew that run was going to happen, but we just needed one more play," Jeter said. "Norris Cole made a big-time shot. We were really trying to force them to take a two."

Milwaukee weathered a fast start from Cleveland State to build a big first-half lead. After CSU jumped out to a 7-2 advantage UWM countered with 18 of the next 24 points for a 20-13 lead.

The lead eventually grew to 27-17 and UWM still led 30-20 after Franklin buried a three. CSU did close to within 30-24 and 32-26, but the Panthers claimed their largest lead of the half when Franklin knocked in another three to make it 39-28 with 1:15 remaining. Milwaukee then carried a 39-30 lead into the halftime locker room.

UWM extended the lead to 14 quickly in the second half before CSU surged back to tie the game. From there, each team had small leads before the late heroics from Cole gave Cleveland State a key victory.

The Panthers return home this weekend to begin the second half of the league season. UWM hosts Valparaiso Friday night before nationally-ranked Butler visits the U.S. Cellular Arena Sunday afternoon.