Feb. 10, 2012

Box Score

DETROIT - Jason Calliste hit two free throws with under 12 seconds remaining to give Detroit a come-from-behind 58-57 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night at Calihan Hall.

The Panthers led by 10 points with less than three minutes to play but were done in by a 15-4 Titan run to end the game.

The deciding plays both came with 11.8 left on the clock. UWM was inbounding the ball after an Eli Holman dunk brought the Titans to within one. The pass was knocked out of play with the official ruling the Panthers touched it last. Then, on the Detroit inbounds play, Paris Gulley was called for a foul before the ball was inbounded, sending Calliste to the line to win the game.

Milwaukee was out of timeouts but Kaylon Williams got a runner off with two seconds left that bounced off the rim.

"It was one of those games where I was really proud of my guys for how we were just finding ways to gut out a win with multiple guys down and Kaylon out for a stretch," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "We were just making some plays that were tough to give us a chance to win, and then down the stretch we made a series of plays that allowed Detroit to make the right decisions."

Tony Meier led the Panthers (15-11, 8-6 Horizon) with 17 points. Ray McCallum had 18 points to lead Detroit (14-12, 8-6).

The teams combined for 45 turnovers, with Milwaukee committing 25 of them. And, Detroit shot under 37 percent from the field and went 0-for-13 from three-point range. The Titans entered the night leading the league in scoring but were held to 58 points and had just 43 with under three minutes remaining.

"We're just trying to get stops," Jeter said. "We don't care if they are ugly. We do care about the 25 turnovers - that was way, way, way too many. Sometimes they are ugly. I don't think Detroit is worried about it being ugly since they got a win."

In the end, the Titans made some key plays late to forge a four-way tie for third place in the Horizon League.

"My guys, they battled, and we still had a shot at the end there. We had a good look and it just didn't go in," Jeter said. "The tough thing for me now is to get this group to feel good about themselves and get ready for the next game, because clearly we did enough things here to steal a win on the road. But it just turns out Detroit stole one from us in the end."

The Panthers led nearly the entire game. The held a 27-22 advantage after a very ragged first half and went up 40-29 on a layin by Shaquille Boga with 13:09 remaining. Milwaukee then seemed to have an answer every time Detroit challenged, as a pair of free throws from Williams made it 44-35 and a three-pointer by Meier extended the edge to 47-37 with 7:15 remaining.

UWM's final double-digit advantage came when Gulley knocked down a 15-footer with 2:55 remaining, putting the Panthers up 53-43.

It was nearly all Detroit from there. A steal and layin by McCallum brought the Titans to within 53-48 with 1:32 left and a basket by Holman after a UWM turnover made it 53-50 with under a minute to play.

Two free throws from Meier pushed the lead back out to 56-52 and a single free throw from Ryan Allen made it 57-54 with 23.1 seconds remaining. Holman then answered with his dunk on Detroit next possession, setting the stage for the Titans to complete their comeback.

The Panthers wrap up their weekend road trip Sunday afternoon at Wright State. The game tips off at 2 p.m. CST.