YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Milwaukee men's basketball team rallied from a double-figure deficit in the first half but could not do it again in the second, falling to Youngstown State by a final score of 72-63 at the Beeghly Center Thursday night.
 
The Panthers (8-8, 1-2 Horizon League) led in the first half after trailing the Penguins (4-11, 2-0 Horizon League) by 11 points early, but could get no closer than one possession down the stretch after falling behind in the league game on the road.
 
"Give them a lot of credit," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We talked to our guys about (YSU) not being home in a long time and were going to come with a lot of energy and we didn't meet that aggressiveness at the start of the game. When you put yourself in a hole, it's a hard hill to climb."
 
Jeremiah Bell scored a season-high 24 points to lead Milwaukee, adding four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
 
"Yes, 24 points helps in any way possible in a game like this when you need somebody to step forward," Baldwin said. "I thought that once we got our feet back underneath us, I thought we had control of the game. And then they went on another run to go back ahead."
 
Brett Prahl was also in double figures with 11 points, grabbing six rebounds and handing out four assists.
 
Bryce Nze, limited by an injury situation, nearly put up a double-double, finishing with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Cameron Morse paced Youngstown State with a season-high 25 points, adding five rebounds, six assists and four steals.
 
YSU, despite coming in as one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country, was helped along by hitting 75 percent from the charity stripe. The full-court press that was also a big part of the game plan on defense also forced 14 UWM turnovers, which were converted into 16 points.
 
Milwaukee bounced back from the early hole and eventually took its biggest lead of the night with just over five minutes to play in the first half. From there it was a big YSU run that allowed them to take over, never trailing in the second half.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers by Morse capped a 22-7 run and gave the home team a 44-34 lead with 15:02 to play.
 
The Panthers would not give up, battling back to 46-42 with seven in a row but again, a Morse three took the steam out of the run.
 
It was a 53-45 deficit at the under-8 minute media timeout, but a three-pointer from Brock Stull and a steal and fastbreak layup by Bell once again had UWM within four at 56-52 and a jumper by Nze had it all the way down to two at 56-54.
 
Milwaukee missed a chance to tie on its next possession and YSU made the Panthers pay, answering with five straight to get back ahead, 61-54, with three minutes remaining. A three-pointer then made it 65-56, but Bell would not give in. He made all three free throw attempts and then had a steal and a lay-in and it was still just a four-point game at 65-61 with just under a minute left. Time then ran out on the Panthers.
 
They recovered from an ugly start, as Morse netted 10 points early to get YSU off to a quick 15-4 opening that forced a UWM timeout less just over three minutes into the night.
 
The deficit was 11 at 17-6 before Milwaukee found a way to turn the game on its head. The defense limited YSU to just one field goal over the next five minutes and, highlighted by eight points by Bell, went on a 21-5 spree of its own to lead by as many as five.
 
Prahl's putback gave UWM its first lead at 21-20 at the 9:28 mark, with the Panthers eventually holding that largest first-half margin at 27-22 on a pair of Prahl free throws with 5:06 left in the period. Six points in a row by the Penguins helped lead to a 30-28 edge by the home team at intermission.
 
Milwaukee finished the night at 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the floor, with a cold-shooting night from long range (4-for-20) not helping the cause. The Panthers won the rebounding battle, 34-31, but allowed the Penguins to shoot 52 percent in the second half and 45.5 percent (25-of-55) on the night.
 
The Panthers close out the first stretch of a five-game Horizon League road swing at Cleveland State Saturday. The matinee affair tips off at 2:30 p.m. CST.