MILWAUKEE - Career-highs in scoring from Cody Wichmann and Brett Prahl led the Milwaukee men's basketball team to a 94-85 victory in overtime against Youngstown State Sunday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (7-14, 3-5 Horizon League) overcame a nine-point deficit with 6:32 to play, forcing overtime against the Penguins (9-13, 3-6 Horizon League) on Prahl's layup with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
"It's not about winning or losing, as much as how we go about things," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "I thought the first half, we weren't as mature as we have been. I thought our response in the second half was much better. Youngstown – give them credit – they can make shots, they can score points with the best of them. They made some big ones and we made some big ones. I am just proud of this group for fighting and finding a way to finish it."
 
The team then scored the first eight points of overtime, icing the victory with a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line in the final 20.4 seconds.
 
"It's a team in the truest sense of the word," Jordan said. "I have said this before about these guys, it's as connected a group as I have been around. They like each other, they spend time off the court with each other and they challenge each other."
 
Wichmann knocked down a career-high 23 points, making a trio of 3's and all four of his free throw attempts. Prahl continues to emerge during his junior campaign, resetting his career high for the third time this season with 18 points. He made 9-of-10 shots from the floor and added five rebounds and two blocks.
 
Down two points after Prahl grabbed the rebound on a YSU miss with 29 seconds left, UWM took a timeout with 20.1 remaining. A foul gave Milwaukee the ball on the baseline with 12.7 seconds left. August Haas had the ball at the top of the key and drove the lane. His shot was blocked, but Prahl won the battle for the board and his twisting reverse layup with 2.1 left tied it at 75-all.
 
Overtime was all UWM, outscoring its opponent 19-10 while making 4-of-5 field goals and 9-of-12 free throws.
 
"I'd like to thank all of the fans that came out. It's a big day here in Wisconsin, to have the crowd support that we did. We'd just thought it'd be good if we could really test the loyalty of all of our Panther fans by going an extra five minutes to see who was going to catch a TV set to find the Packer game," Jordan joked.
 
Brock Stull again played a key role, scoring 19 points while just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. He also tied his career-high with six assists.
 
Haas was vital, handing out a season-high nine assists compared to zero turnovers, chipping in seven points.
 
Cameron Harvey shrugged off a tough stretch of late and came up huge, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting – including three 3's on four attempts.
 
Cameron Morse led five players in double-figures for YSU, sinking five 3's to finish with 21 points on the afternoon.
 
Down 71-62 with 6:36 to play, UWM mounted its second impressive comeback of the weekend. A layup by Bryce Nze started the effort and a 3 from Haas two possessions later made it a two-point contest at 71-69 with 4:40 remaining. Still down four with three minutes to play, Prahl scored the final two baskets the rest of the day and the defense held YSU to no makes on its final three shots from the floor.
 
Milwaukee led all but 54 seconds of the first half, getting off to a great start by making five of its first eight field goal attempts. The 11-2 advantage forced a YSU timeout, and the Penguins answered with an 8-2 spurt that closed the gap to 13-10. Both teams were cold from distance at the start, making just one of the first 10 combined.
 
The Panthers had a solid first half from the field, hitting half of their 30 attempts. Prahl was tough to stop inside, making 4-of-5 in the paint to net eight in the first 20 minutes. Wichmann also had eight in the frame.
 
UWM did not trail until the 2:30 mark, with a transition 3 giving the visitors their first lead of the day at 30-29. The lead changed hands two more times before the halftime horn.
 
The Panthers shot a season-high 57.8 percent (37-of-64) from the floor overall, making nine 3's and winning the rebounding battle, 36-32. More importantly, they connected on 62.1 percent (18-of-29) in the second half.
 
The team rattled off 20 assists to just nine turnovers and outscored the Penguins, 46-32, in the paint. Youngstown shot 45.8 percent (33-of-72) on the day.
 
Up next, it's a two-game road swing through the state of Michigan, starting with Detroit Mercy on Friday. Tip time against the Titans is set for 6 p.m. CST.