Feb. 20, 2014

Box Score

  

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Kendrick Perry scored 35 points and Youngstown State scored the final six points of overtime to claim an 88-83 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.

The Panthers (16-11, 6-7 Horizon) had taken an 83-82 lead on a J.J. Panoske basket with 1:15 remaining but Ryan Weber answered on the next possession for the Penguins (15-13, 6-7), who then never gave the lead back.

Milwaukee led by as many as 10 points in the second half before rallying late to force the extra session. A three-pointer by Steve McWhorter with 52.4 seconds tied the game at 74-apiece and the Panthers then had what amounted to the final possession of regulation after a YSU turnover. But UWM turned it over with 1.8 seconds left and never got a crack at winning the game.

"I thought it was huge we didn't get a shot off at the end of regulation," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter. "We just wanted to get a shot at it and maybe a tip in. I thought our guys had played really hard to put ourselves in that position."

The Panthers played a second-straight game without leading scorer Jordan Aaron, who is serving a suspension for a violation of team rules. Plus, Thierno Niang left the game early in the first half with a sprained knee and did not return, while McWhorter fouled out with 3:55 remaining in overtime.

Milwaukee went deep into its bench and got plenty of contributions from unlikely sources. JeVon Lyle, who hadn't played more than eight minutes in a game since November, scored 15 points in 28 minutes. J.J. Panoske, who had played double-figure minutes just twice in league play, added 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench.

Austin Arians led the Panthers with 28 points while Kyle Kelm added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. McWhorter had nine assists to go with his six points.

"Obviously we have bodies down and bodies not available," Jeter said. "We got contributions from JR and JJ tonight and I thought that was really a positive for us. But at the end of the day we just couldn't get that stop or that rebound. I'm pleased with how well our guys played with such adversity. We just have to figure out a way to win now with more bodies down."

Milwaukee went into the halftime locker room with a two-point lead. The Panthers jumped out to an 8-4 lead on a pair of three by Arians and still led 14-11 after McWhorter knocked home a three.

The two teams traded the lead from there, with a Perry three putting YSU up 23-20 before Milwaukee answered with five-straight points and a 25-23 advantage. The Penguins then had an opportunity to seize control of the game, scoring seven-straight points while Milwaukee went over five minutes without a basket.

Instead, the Panthers had the final answer of the half thanks to Lyle. He knocked home a three to bring Milwaukee within 32-30 and then scored on a layup 22 seconds later to tie the game at 32-apiece. His layin with 20 seconds left in the half is what gave Milwaukee the halftime lead.

The Panthers kept their momentum rolling early in the second half, going up 42-36 on an Arians three before eventually leading 48-40 on another Arians basket. After YSU pulled back to within a point at 48-47, Milwaukee answered with an 11-2 run to build a 59-49 lead with 9:36 left.

Perry answered with 10-straight points for Youngstown and looked to be taking control, with another Perry basket pushing the Penguins' lead to 72-68 with 2:32 left. Milwaukee had a final rally in it, though, with threes from Arians and McWhorter extending the game.

The two teams traded the lead through much of the overtime period before Weber's basket gave YSU the lead for good. The Penguins then hit 4-of-6 from the line to hang on for the win.

"I like the way these guys are persevering and we have to figure out a way to continue to do that," Jeter said. "This was a tough loss for us because we had an opportunity to win despite not having everyone, and now they have to figure out a way to do it all again on Saturday."

The Panthers wrap up their weekend road trip to northeast Ohio with a Saturday afternoon game at Cleveland State. That contest starts at 1 p.m. CST and can be seen live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.