VALPARAISO, Ind. - Brock Stull hit six three-pointers on his way to 22 points, but a late charge from Valparaiso broke open a close game and handed the Milwaukee men's basketball team a tough 67-61 loss Tuesday night at the ARC.
 
The Panthers (8-21, 4-12 Horizon League) never gave in to the first-place Crusaders (23-6, 13-3 Horizon League), making it a one-possession game with just over three minutes to play. From there, Valpo clamped down and went on a 10-2 scoring run to open up its largest lead of the night before winning by six points to improve to 15-2 at home this season.
 
"I was extremely proud of how we responded," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "We had a heart-to-heart as a team, as a family and got real about the things that happened in the last outing. Nobody in the locker room was happy or pleased about that and they all knew we just got off the path for a moment. Give Valpo credit, they made the plays down the stretch to get the win. But our guys internally took a huge step today."
 
Stull finished 8-of-12 from the floor and hit 6-of-7 three's, just missing a double-double by finishing with nine rebounds.
 
Brett Prahl finished with 12 points and Bryce Barnes was also on the mark, making 5-of-6 shots to finish in double-figures at 11. Milwaukee shot 56 percent in the second half and finished at 51 percent (25-of-49) from the floor overall on the night.
 
"Appreciate this group so much for responding the way they did," Jordan said. "Tough environment, you have these guys (Valparaiso) celebrating their seniors, so there was an atmosphere and our guys handled it with great maturity. I loved the way we came out and fought."
 
Alec Peters led the Crusaders with a game-high 23 points as the only member of his team in double-figures.
 
Down at intermission, Barnes hit a floater over Peters to tie it at 31-31 before Milwaukee would take a 38-36 lead on a twisting lay-in by Jeremy Johnson.
 
Back-and-forth from there, Valpo would try and try again to extend the lead but Milwaukee would never let them.
 
Prahl made it a one-possession game on a nice reverse layup at 56-53 only to see Peters with the answer. The Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year hit a big 3 to make it 59-53, jumpstarting that 10-2 spurt that gave them their biggest lead of the night and decided the outcome.
 
The Panthers were right where they needed to be at halftime, down 31-27 despite Valpo getting the final four points of the frame following a 27-27 deadlock.
 
Milwaukee made its first two shots of the night before missing a handful, allowing the Crusaders to net seven in a row to grab a 15-10 lead. The spree stretched to 10-2 and gave Valpo an 18-12 lead – forcing UWM to call a timeout at the 11:28 mark – amazing enough the first break in the action of the night.
 
Milwaukee pushed back, as usual, and caught some momentum following a monster dunk by Prahl, who elevated down the lane and threw it down with authority. It was Prahl again on the next possession, collecting a three-point play the hard way. His free throw drew the Panthers to within a point at 23-22.
 
Overall, Milwaukee scored 13 of 20 points in the contest to claw all the way back, tying the contest at 25-25 on a 3 by Stull with 4:43 to go in the first.
 
Milwaukee was out-rebounded by just two at 27-25, but did hurt its chances in the close matchup by making just 4-of-9 free throws.
 
Up next, the Panthers return to Milwaukee for the final homestand of the regular season, playing the last two games of the year at the Klotsche Center. First up Friday is Detroit, set for a 7 p.m. tip-off.