GREEN BAY, WIs. - The Milwaukee men's basketball team battled back from a pair of double-figure deficits but an extended second-half scoring run helped Green Bay earn the 80-74 victory Friday night at the Resch Center.
 
"This one will sting," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "I love the fact that these guys are hungry and that they still believe. Nobody has lost spirit and they believe in each other and in what we are doing."
 
The Panthers (4-12, 0-3 Horizon League) overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half to eventually lead the Phoenix (9-6, 3-0 Horizon League), taking a 44-41 advantage with 15 minutes to play.
 
From there, a cold stretch from the floor gave Green Bay the opening it needed, going on a large scoring run to extend the lead to as many as 17. Milwaukee fought back again and again, drawing within six points as time expired.
 
"Our guys fight," Jordan said. "I just have to do a better job in those moments. Offensively, we go on a drought and you can only hold serve for so long. We have to do a better job of our execution and maybe our lineups in those moments. We have those segments and we have to look at them and see what is going on and how we can help them correct it."
 
Brock Stull led the way with a 25-point effort, adding seven rebounds and four assists. Cody Wichmann netted 17 points with a large crowd of over 100 family and friends from nearby Pulaski in attendance, sinking five 3's.
 
August Haas stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Bryce Barnes chipped in nine off the bench in 14 minutes.
 
Reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Charles Cooper led Green Bay with 20 points off the bench, sinking 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Kerem Kanter added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Phoenix helped its cause from the charity stripe, taking over twice as many attempts (32-to-15), while finishing with three times as many makes (27-to-9). They also won the rebounding battle, 44-to-34.
 
"I thought we controlled the tempo of the game," Jordan said. "There was like a four-minute segment of the second half where they dictated. I thought our guys did well – only 11 turnovers, only three in the second half. We have to communicate better from the bench what we want, so that they can get to it."
 
A Wichmann triple out of the break knotted the game at 33-33 and the game went back-and-forth for the ensuing minutes. Stull gave UWM the 37-35 lead on a layup in transition and the Wichmann 3 from the wing made it 44-41 and seemed to give UWM some much-needed pep in its step.
 
From there it was all Green Bay. The Panthers went cold from the floor and the Phoenix kept finding the hoop, scoring 19 points in a row to take control. Milwaukee battled back but the deficit was too much.
 
The Panthers led for a good chunk of the first half, but another cold spell after taking the 22-21 lead on a layup by Dan Studer with just under eight minutes left in the period put Milwaukee in a tougher spot.
 
Green Bay managed an 11-0 run over the next five-plus minutes, with a three-pointer from the wing capping the stretch and forcing a UWM timeout. Milwaukee responded quickly, scoring eight of the final nine points of the period to get it back to a one-possession game at 33-30 at the break. Good defense helped, forcing nine Green Bay miscues to help negate the team's cold-shooting start.
 
The Panthers came out firing – making 5-of-7 shots to start the contest – and a three by Haas put them back in the lead at 20-18 with 9:07 to go. The first half was back-and-forth, with six different lead changes, with Haas having the hot hand. He put up 12 points in the first 20 minutes, not missing a shot (4-4 FG/3-3 FT) in equaling his career-high by intermission.
 
Up next, Milwaukee plays its first home game in over three weeks, welcoming Northern Kentucky to the UWM Panther Arena Thursday. Tip time downtown is set for 7 p.m.