MILWAUKEE - Kendrick Nunn tied a career high with 36 points and Oakland fended off a furious second-half comeback attempt by the Milwaukee men's basketball team in holding on for a 76-68 victory Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Our guys really fought hard towards the end to battle back, to make it interesting," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "But then there was too much Kendrick Nunn towards the end – making plays that he had to make to seal the win for them."
 
The Panthers (7-7, 0-1 Horizon League) cut a 19-point second-half deficit against the Golden Grizzlies (9-5, 1-0 Horizon League) down to just four points on multiple occasions, but could get no closer in falling to the overwhelming favorite in the 2017-18 conference preseason poll.
 
Brock Stull led the way with 19 points, coming up one rebound short of a double-double. He also added five assists to the nine boards.
 
Brett Prahl contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, with Vance Johnson compiling his best game of the season in 14 minutes off the bench. Johnson went 4-of-5 from the floor, netting 10 points while grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
 
"They came out and played hard," Baldwin said of his players. "They competed and gave a valiant effort tonight. I think the one thing that did us in at the start of the second half was multiple turnovers that led to baskets for them, coupled with unfortunate technical fouls on us that gave them more opportunities to push their lead."
 
Nunn made 12-of-22 shots from the floor, getting two of the biggest baskets of the night late in the game. He scored a jumper to stem the tide when the Panthers were within four at 63-59 and then really took some steam out of the comeback effort when he swished a 3-pointer on the next possession with UWM back within four, extending the lead to seven at 68-61 with 3:58 remaining.
 
Milwaukee never gave in and was back within four once again, only to see a pair of Nunn free throws extend the deficit yet again. A dunk after a missed UWM three then essentially put the game away with under a minute remaining.
 
Martez Walker scored 14 for the visitors. Isaiah Brock finished with eight points but added 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.
 
Down just four at intermission, those poor-timed turnovers by UWM led to some easy baskets by Oakland. With the score 40-34, the Grizzlies went on a scoring run that decided the contest, netting 13 points in a row – helped along by a double-technical on the Panthers – to roar out to a 19-point advantage at 53-34.
 
Milwaukee went into comeback mode, ripping off a 15-2 scoring run of its own. Stull's jumper capped the run and his 3 on the next possession rimmed out or UWM would have been within a point.
 
The Panthers ended the night at 38.6 percent (27-of-70) from the floor, outrebounding OU by a 41-35 count. The Golden Grizzlies finished the night at 45.6 percent (26-of-57), making 19-of-22 free throws – getting to the line twice as much as Milwaukee (8-of-11). A key stat was Oakland scoring 19 points off just 12 UWM turnovers.
 
Up next, the Panthers close out 2017 with another game at home, welcoming Detroit Mercy to UWM Panther Arena Saturday. Tip time against the Titans is set for 6 p.m.