Feb. 14, 2012

Box Score |  Photo Gallery   |  Meier Audio Interview

  

MILWAUKEE - Tony Meier hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee an 86-84 win over Cleveland State Tuesday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Meier was fouled on a three-point shot from the wing and made his first two free throw attempts. He missed the third and Anton Grady grabbed the rebound, but his 80-footer sailed wildly away.

UWM led by as many as 16 points in the second half before pulling out the victory.

James Haarsma led Milwaukee with a collegiate-high 25 points and was one of five Panthers in double figures. Plus, the Panthers (16-12, 9-7 Horizon), who entered the game shooting less than 60 percent from the foul line, converted 33-of-40 from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Cleveland State shot nearly 61 percent from the field and made 20 free throws but still came up short in dropping its third-straight. Trevon Harmon had 27 points to lead the Vikings.

UWM's offense was stellar much of the night. Paris Gulley had 17 points, Tony Meier 15, Kyle Kelm 13 and Kaylon Williams 12. Williams also had seven assists, becoming Milwaukee's Division I career assists leader on a lob pass to Kelm in the second half.

"We found ourselves letting another one get to a position where we were going to have to save ourselves and we did," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "It wasn't pretty down the stretch but they found a way to save themselves."

A three by Gulley extended the lead to 12 early in the second half and the Panthers eventually went up 67-51 on a pair of Kelm free throws with 12:37 left. Milwaukee again pushed the lead to 16 at 75-59 after two-straight threes by Gulley, but that's where the Cleveland State comeback started. A three-point play by Aaron Pogue made it 77-69 with 5:35 left and then a basket by Grady brought the Vikings to within 81-76 with 2:25 remaining.

Charlie Lee then brought CSU to within 84-82 with 52.3 seconds left and a steal led to a Jeremy Montgomery runner that tied the game at 84 with 38 seconds left.

Williams then had two cracks at putting the Panthers back in front, but his first try and his tip try both rimmed off. The rebound went out in the corner off of Cleveland State, setting up Milwaukee's final possession.

"At the timeout, Kaylon was looking at me saying `Give me the ball, give me the ball.'," Jeter said. "I know you want the ball and I just decided we were going to try another senior. Kaylon's taken so many shots at the end that I figured they were going to stick with him and they did, and I felt one more screen hopefully would give us a look."

Milwaukee rode its offensive performance to a nine-point halftime lead. The teams traded the lead in the early going but the Panthers surged ahead 31-27 on a pair of Meier free throws with 6:55 remaining. Threes from Haarsma and Williams extended the lead to 39-33 and a pair of free throws from Haarsma made it 43-33.

Cleveland State, which shot better than 65 percent in the first half, crawled back to within 43-39 on two-straight three-pointers, but Milwaukee made its own surge back and led 48-39 when Meier buried a three in transition. The Panthers then led 50-41 at the break.

Haarsma was really the spark for Milwaukee, knocking down a pair of early three-pointers to set the tone for what would be a good night for the Panthers offensively.

"They were sagging off to begin with, and once I get my feet in the right rhythm I'm going to let it go," Haarsma said. "I'm getting a little bit more comfortable. Especially if I hit my first one or two, it definitely helps my confidence a lot."

The Panthers step out of league play Saturday, squaring off with Fairfield in the annual BracketBusters contest. The game tips off at 3 p.m. CST at the U.S. Cellular Arena.