GREEN BAY, Wis. - Austin Arians' three-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out and the Milwaukee men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 70-68 decision to Green Bay Monday night at the Resch Center.
 
The Panthers (16-11, 7-7 Horizon League) used a dramatic 19-2 second-half scoring run against the Phoenix (16-11, 8-6 Horizon League) to get back in the contest, eventually leading by four points with 10 minutes to play after trailing by 14 in the period. Arians final shot was on-line and looked good, but went off the rim to end the contest.
 
"I like that we put ourselves in position to make a shot to win it, we just didn't make it," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We did some good things. And the last play, Austin gets it in his hands – it looked pretty good, it just didn't go down."
 
The loss put a damper on what was a record-breaking night, as Jordan Johnson broke the single-season assists record and J.J. Panoske reset his own school record for blocks in a season.
 
"He's been great all year," Jeter said about Johnson, who has been ranked second all season in the NCAA in assists per game. "Three games in five days, with as many minutes as he logs, I thought his play was good. He's taking a lot of hits when going to the rim but he's figuring out ways to finish. I can't say enough great things about Jordan."
 
Matt Tiby led the offense with 15 points. Johnson chipped in 13 points to go along with five rebounds and six assists. Panoske added a dozen points, grabbed seven boards and blocked three shots.
 
Charles Cooper paced the Phoenix with 18.
 
Green Bay went on a 20-6 run that bridged the halves and gave it a 45-31 lead just minutes into the second and possibly a chance to blow it wide open. The Panthers showed the same resolve they have all season, ripping off 13 points in a row as part of that 19-2 run, eventually retaking the lead at 50-47 on a three-pointer by Cody Wichmann.
 
Tied again at 52-52, Johnson fed Tiby for a three-pointer than gave him his 216^th assist, eclipsing Kaylon Williams school record of 215 set in 2011-12.
 
Next, Johnson's tough layup down the lane gave UWM a four-point cushion at 58-54 with 10 minutes to go and looked like momentum was on the side of the Panthers.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle from there, tied at 58, 62, 64 and 67-all. With just over six minutes to play, Panoske came up with his third block of the night. That gave him 42 on the season, one more than the school record of 41 he set as a freshman back in 2012-13.
 
Tiby's free throw put Milwaukee ahead 69-68, but a dunk by Jamar Hurdle on the ensuing possession gave Green Bay the final lead it would not relinquish.
 
Milwaukee had a pair of chances to win in the closing seconds, but it was not to be as the Phoenix escaped with the victory.
 
The Panthers fell down 11-8 early, but hit 5 of 7 shots to grab a 12-11 advantage at the first media timeout. After some early quick scoring, the defenses settled in and slowed the pace of the game down. Milwaukee kept up the solid defense – allowing just one Green Bay make on the next 12 attempts – during an 11-2 spurt that put the visitors up 19-13 on a layup by JayQuan McCloud at the 8:51 mark.
 
As cold as they were, the Phoenix turned the tables, ripping off 10 points in a row to snag the 23-19 advantage. The teams went in spurts back and forth, throwing in six lead changes and four ties in the first 20 minutes alone. Just as quickly as Milwaukee had it tied, the Phoenix went on a mini-run again, scoring nine of the next 11 to get the lead to seven at 34-27. A final basket at the halftime horn was waved off to trim the margin to eight at intermission at 39-31.
 
For the game, Milwaukee shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) and had just 13 free throw attempts, making nine. An uncharacteristic 16 turnovers were made worse by Green Bay finishing with a 21-7 advantage in points off those turnovers.
 
"You look at turnovers and you look at the points they scored off turnovers, clearly that's the game," Jeter said. "And if you make a couple of free throws, it's a different game."
 
UWM won the rebounding battle easily at 42-32, as Green Bay ended the night at 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the floor.
 
Up next, the Panthers are finally back at home, welcoming Cleveland State Saturday for a 3 p.m. matinee at UWM Panther Arena.