GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Darius Roy scored a game-high 20 points and Vance Johnson added a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, but a late scoring run provided the difference as the Milwaukee men's basketball team fell to North Dakota, 83-72, Sunday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
 
The Panthers (2-8) led in the second half and trailed by just one possession with nine minutes remaining; only to see a 10-1 scoring run by the Fighting Hawks (5-5) provide enough separation to help them hold off Milwaukee down the stretch.
 
"You had two teams that were really desperate for a win, so both teams came out really hard and we were as aggressive as we could be, especially on the defensive end," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Our guys fought and were aggressive and that's the way we need to be when we are playing."
 
Roy added three assists, two steals and two rebounds. Johnson's night was his best as a Panther, finishing with his first MKE double-double. He went 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line, adding three assists.
 
Bryce Barnes was also in double-figures with a season-high 16 points, connecting on three 3's that all came in the second half.
 
"Defense is what we need to hang our hat on and we did early in the game and into the second half," Baldwin said. "It was that run, it really capsized us a little bit and we couldn't recover."
 
Cortez Seales led UND with 19 points, one of four in double-figures for the home side.
 
The Panthers held a slim 40-38 lead at the break and Barnes hit a couple of early 3's in the second half, one to make it 45-40 and the next to make it 48-44 with 17:08 to play. From there, a 9-0 UND run forced a timeout at the 13:38 mark and, a few minutes later Milwaukee found itself trailing, 60-54.
 
Roy went coast-to-coast for a layup and was fouled, getting Milwaukee back to within three at 60-57 with just over nine minutes to play. At that point North Dakota came up with the decisive scoring run, scoring 10 of the next 11 points of the game to seize momentum and forge ahead, 70-58.
 
The Panthers worked hard the rest of the way, but could never get back within single-digits down the stretch.
 
Johnson played a huge role in the first half, accounting for 15 of the 40 points the team scored, including the final two on free throws with 3.2 seconds left accounted for the 12^th lead change of the first half and made it 40-38 at intermission.
 
"It's good for him that he broke out like that," Baldwin said. "I am just looking for some consistency with Vance so that we can count on him night-in and night-out."
 
The Panthers scored seven of the first 10 points of the afternoon to get going quickly once again. However, five in a row from UND changed the lead for the first time and was a sign of things to come in the first 20 minutes.
 
Back ahead, 9-8, a transition 3 by the Fighting Hawks flipped it at 14-11 to force an MKE timeout. The stop helped, with the Panthers coming out of the stoppage to step into a 9-2 mini-run, taking an 18-16 lead on a Roy steal and layup and a 20-16 advantage on a pair of Amir Allen free throws with 9:18 to play.
 
Minutes later, Johnson's 3 put Milwaukee back ahead at 29-27, continuing the seesaw battle.
 
For the game, the Fighting Hawks shot 54 percent (27-for-50), winning the rebounding battle, 42-32. The Panthers finished the night at 35.8 percent (24-for-67), but were very good from the free throw line once again, hitting 88.9 percent (16-of-18) from the charity stripe.
 
Milwaukee remains on the road and travels to UMKC next. The Panthers and the Kangaroos are set to tip at 6 p.m. Dec. 13.