Jan. 30, 2011

Box Score | Postgame Extra | Audio: UWM Press Conference

MILWAUKEE - Anthony Hill led the way with 22 points and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team held off a late surge by Wright State University in claiming a 54-53 victory Sunday afternoon. Hill scored 14 of his 22 points at the free throw line and helped out by drawing one of two late key offensive fouls as the Panthers (12-11, 7-5 Horizon) held on to beat the Raiders (14-9, 7-4 Horizon) for the 13th-consecutive time on their home court.

Vaughn Duggins finished with a game-high 26 points to lead WSU, with teammate N'Gai Evans tallying 15 points as the only other player in double-figures. Tone Boyle just missed a double-double, scoring nine points while also adding a career-best 10 rebounds. Kaylon Williams chipped in with seven points, five assists and five rebounds.

"Just a grinder," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "Just the way our games are always played against Wright State here. They are just a tough team, Vaughn Duggins is one of the best players in the league and he shows it every night. We just didn't have an answer for him in stretches."

With Milwaukee up nine with just over six minutes to play, Wright State got back-to-back three-pointers from Duggins and Evans to trim the deficit to three. After a Hill free throw, Evans hit another three to make it a one-point game at 51-50 with just over a minute to play.

That was when Hill and Boyle both came up big defensively. Hill drew a foul on Kegan Clark to get possession back with just under a minute to play and Boyle responded with the same. He drew the charge when Evans cut to the basket with 29 seconds remaining to again give UWM the ball back. The Panthers would make just three of their six free throw attempts in the final 37 seconds, but Boyle's free throw with four seconds left made it 54-50 and gave the Panthers just enough when Clark hit a long desperation three at the final buzzer.

"For our men to come in here and to take care of two and then to get two charges down the stretch is what I am most proud of with this group," Jeter said. "Two defensive plays by two seniors. That was pretty special because we have really been challenging these guys about making tough plays and they get two charges at the end of the game was special for me."

Back-and-forth from the start, Milwaukee seemed to take control of the contest with a 14-to-2 run midway through the second half. Trailing, 33-32 with 12:54 to play, Boyle scored an uncontested layup off an inbounds play under the basket to give the Panthers the lead for good. Five free throws and a three-pointer by Boyle helped push the advantage to 11 on two occasions before Wright State would battle back.

The Panthers came out slowly and trailed by seven at 19-12, with just over eight minutes to play in the first. They went on a nice run from there to the halftime horn, outscoring the Raiders, 15-to-5, to take the 27-24 lead into intermission.

Milwaukee was in the bonus early and Hill's pair of free throws with under six to play started the run. He added two more before Ja'Rob McCallum's three-pointer cut the deficit to two at the 4:06 mark.

Lonnie Boga then made one free throw and rebounded his own miss, with Kaylon Williams getting credit for a layup on a goaltending call to give UWM the lead at 22-21. Boyle then completed the 9-0 run with a three from the sideline and WSU was forced to take a timeout. Boga finished the scoring before half, battling for a pair of offensive rebounds before finishing.

Milwaukee finished 15-for-43 (34.9%) from the floor in the game and held Wright State to a 17-for-40 (42.5%) showing. It also went 20-for-28 at the free throw line and outrebounded WSU by a count of 34-to-24, including 15-to-6 on the offensive glass.

The Panthers are back on action Saturday, hosting Green Bay in a 2 p.m. tip.