DAYTON, Ohio - A last-second attempt to win the game hit the back iron and bounced off, allowing the Milwaukee men's basketball team to escape with a 74-73 victory over Wright State Saturday night at the Nutter Center.
 
"I thought for 36 minutes, it was pretty the way we played," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "I thought our guys executed offensively and held a very good and potent Wright State team to 41 percent shooting. The bottom line is that I thought we played well and the most important thing is that we came out on top."
 
The Panthers (14-14, 7-8 Horizon League) were in control the entire second half and had built their lead up to 16 with just under four minutes to play, only to see the first-place Raiders (19-8, 11-3 Horizon League) stage a furious rally and almost pull off the improbable decision.
 
"Going back home we are happy about that," Baldwin said about playing NKU close and knocking off Wright State. "Obviously, we wanted to try and get two wins on this road trip but to split with the circumstances we were under – playing the two top teams in our league – I will take it any day."
 
The victory gives Milwaukee a season sweep of WSU, a team that came in tied for first in the conference and ranked No. 22 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. The win also snaps the Raiders home unbeaten streak at 12 games, their longest in over a decade.
 
Jeremiah Bell paced the offense with 18 points, one of four Panthers in double-figures. Brock Stull had 16, sinking 5 three-pointers, while adding seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Carson Warren-Newsome scored all 11 of his points in the second half, sinking a pair of huge three-pointers, while Brett Prahl chipped in 10 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting night from the floor.
 
Loudon Love paced WSU with a double-double of 20 points and 19 rebounds. Mark Hughes added 19.
 
Milwaukee seemed to be in complete control coming down the stretch, taking a 16-point lead at 73-57 on a three by Bryce Barnes with 3:47 to go.
 
From there it was all Wright State, scoring 16 of the final 17 points of the contest. The Panthers did not help themselves, missing 5 of 6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to even allow the opportunity to get off a potential winner.
 
Coming out of the locker room, Bell made it a 10-point game on the first possession at 42-32. The lead was back at 10 on a Prahl dunk and to 11 for the first time at 47-36 on a Warren-Newsome three-pointer.
 
The long-distance shooting played a key role all night. UWM made a dozen 3's, its most in a league game this season. Two of them came back-to-back from Stull and Bell and the advantage was back to 15 at 58-43.
 
It was a great first half for the Panthers, taking a lead of eight points for the fourth time in the period just before intermission at 40-32.
 
The team connected on 61.5 percent (16-of-26) of its shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes, sinking an impressive 6 of 10 from long-distance to keep the Raiders at arm's length.
 
A few scoring runs kept things interesting. Eight in a row early gave the Panthers a 10-6 advantage on a Prahl layup. A powerful throw-down by Bryce Nze made it 12-8 at the 15:06 mark and a Stull triple capped a 13-2 run and gave UWM the 15-8 advantage.
 
The Raiders had a response, scoring seven of the next nine points to get back within two. However, just like that, Milwaukee gained some separation, leading by eight for the first time at 25-17 on a pair of Bell free throws at the 7:11 mark and again at 30-22 on a fadeaway 3 at the end of the shot clock by Bell.
 
It was 32-24 when WSU netted six in a row to draw within a bucket, but 3's by Stull and Bell pushed the margin back to eight once again.
 
The Panthers ended the night at 59.2 percent (29-of-49) from the floor, its best effort since the season opener. They sank 12 of 22 three's. The defense held Wright State to just over 40 percent (.414) to help key the season sweep and hand the home team just its third league loss of the season.
 
Up next, the Panthers return for their final home contest of the season, taking on IUPUI Friday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and it will also be "Senior Night" for the Milwaukee program.