MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee men's basketball team held Belmont to a season-low in points scored but ran out of time down the stretch in falling, 62-56, Monday evening at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (4-9) led by as many as eight points midway through the first half, but a key scoring run by the Bruins (5-4) helped them take control.
 
"I was really pleased with the entire group in terms of how we started the game with great energy," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "I thought we played with a lot of passion tonight. Our bench came in and provided a spark. We just have to consistently get that effort – we are cleaning up the details and there are areas we need to grow in."
 
A final surge by Milwaukee in the final two minutes made things interesting, but Belmont was perfect from the free throw line down the stretch to protect the lead and escape with the victory.
 
"Tonight was a good bounce-back and a great response and we are proud of that," Jordan said. "They are a good team, give Belmont credit."
 
UWM was led by its bench, which outscored its opponent by a count of 28-6 on the evening. Jeremiah Bell and Jeremy Johnson each contributed a team-high 10 points. Bell added five rebounds and a team-best four assists in 23 minutes.
 
Cody Wichmann and Brock Stull each had eight points. Stull added seven rebounds and Bryce Nze grabbed a team-high eight boards to go along with his seven points.
 
Evan Bradds paced Belmont with 18 points and nine rebounds. Amanze Egekeze added a double-double of 14 points and 14 boards, also blocking three shots.
 
Just a two-point game at intermission, Belmont used an overall scoring run of 25-7 bridging the halves to grab its first double-figure lead at 40-30 with just under 15 minutes left.
 
As usual, Milwaukee showed no quit, using an 8-1 spurt to force a timeout and draw within three at 41-38 with 10:31 left on a drive to the hoop by Johnson.
 
UWM would trim the deficit to four on a pair of occasions over the next series of possessions, missing a pair of chances to make it a two-point game before Belmont answered with five in a row to grab control. The Panthers stuck around enough down the stretch to make it interesting and make the Bruins sweat it out, but could get no closer than four the rest of the way.
 
The first half of play went from a back-and-forth affair to a game of runs quickly.
 
Tied 10-10 on Johnson's free throws at the 13:23 mark, two early fouls on both Nze and Dan Studer forced the Panthers to shift rotations around. Things worked quickly, as nine UWM points in a row capped three ties and six lead changes in the first 10 minutes, giving the Panthers a 23-15 lead on a free-throw line jumper by Bell with just over nine minutes left.
 
From there the Bruins started hitting 3's after starting 1-for-12 from distance, making back-to-back triples to take the lead. The run eventually hit 13-0 to give the visitors the 30-25 advantage after they had made five field goals in a row. August Haas hit a three from the corner to snap the run and provide the final basket in the first half.
 
Milwaukee finished the night at 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, but did hold its opponent to just 40.7 percent (24-of-59) while committing just 10 turnovers.
 
Up next, the Panthers will have 10 days off before returning to action, set to hit the road to close the month of December with their first Horizon League play of the season. Milwaukee starts off a two-game road swing through Ohio with a matchup against Youngstown State Dec. 29. Tip will be 6 p.m. CST.