MILWAUKEE - Jake Wright scored a career-high 23 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team shot a season-high 58.5 percent from the floor to claim a 79-70 victory over Albany Friday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"It was a great night for our guys, we finally opened it up offensively a little bit," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Just very happy that we found some offensive success to go along with our defense. I think that has been a hallmark of us early in games, being able to defend and take away some things."
 
In a game that featured seven lead changes, the Panthers (2-4) used an impressive 10-0 scoring run late in the contest against the Great Danes (2-4) to secure the victory.
 
Wright tied his career-best with seven made 3's on his way to 23 points, finishing 7-of-9 from long range. He also got the Panthers off to a hot start, scoring the first 12 points of the game on 3's to help his team jump ahead, 19-9, on the scoreboard.
 
"We started out tonight making some huge 3's – Jake got us off to a great start," Baldwin said. "I think one of the things that stands out to me is just our toughness throughout the game. Our guys showed a great fight tonight, a great togetherness."
 
Darius Roy added 17 points and a career-best eight assists. DeAndre Abram posted his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards, while Amir Allen also finished in double-figures with 10 points.
 
Ahmad Clark led the visitors with 23 points.
 
Milwaukee used three's by Wright and Abram to turn a 41-39 deficit into a 45-41 lead just 90 seconds into the second half.
 
MKE would push ahead at that point, but the visitors always had an answer, eventually leading to a 63-63 deadlock with 5:42 to play.
 
Milwaukee had a quick answer, with a dunk on the next possession giving the Panthers the lead they would never relinquish. The team took advantage of a flagrant foul call to convert a 5-point play next, as Abram sank a pair of free throws and followed that up with a three from the wing.
 
Following a stop on the other end, Wright buried another triple to force a UAlbany timeout at 73-63, capping the 10-0 run that happened in just 65 seconds of clock time.
 
That was enough to decide it, with the Great Danes never getting the lead lower than seven the rest of the way.
 
Milwaukee came out swinging with Wright leading the way, going ahead by as many as 12 at 21-9 just past the 11-minute mark. Albany took a timeout and righted the ship, battling all the way back to eventually lead by as many as five before the halftime horn.
 
The Panthers finished the night at a season-high 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the floor, with the 12 3's also a season-high and the most since 13 against Western Michigan back on Dec. 22 of last season.
 
MKE won the rebounding battle, 32-28, and held the opposition to 39 percent (23-of-59) from the floor – the second game in a row it has held the opponent below the 40-percent mark.
 
Up next, the Panthers will pack their bags for the next step of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic, heading across the globe to take on Buffalo in Northern Ireland Friday. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, set for an early Milwaukee start time of 4:30 a.m.