ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team jumped out to a quick start and then held off Oakland in the final seconds, claiming a 67-64 victory Thursday night at the O'rena.
 
The Panthers (7-10, 2-2 Horizon League) also clamped down on defense all evening, holding the Golden Grizzlies (7-11, 3-2 Horizon League) to 35 percent shooting from the floor.
 
"This is a tough place to play and I am proud of our guys for their toughness in coming in here," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We got off to a great start and we had to hold on for dear life at the end. We knew Oakland would make their run, which they did – and even took the lead at one point. But our guys stepped up late and made some really key plays."
 
DeAndre Abram led the way with 18 points, putting the final touches on the victory with a pair of free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining. The defense then held off a pair of attempts to try and force overtime, picking up the impressive road win.
 
Darius Roy had 14 points, including a late three-pointer that gave Milwaukee the lead it never relinquished the rest of the way. He added six rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes of action.
 
Wil Sessoms was also in double-figures with 13, but all of it came in the second half, including a pair of late three-pointers and an and-1 that helped MKE answer every run that Oakland went on down the stretch.
 
"Our guys played with a lot of toughness," Baldwin said. "When you go on the road, it is not easy. Our guys stayed together; they stuck with it. When they made some momentous plays, we came back with tough plays and really secured this win with our effort at the end."
 
Jaevin Cumberland led the home team with 19 points, while the Milwaukee defense held Xavier Hill-Mais – who came in second in the league with a 22.1 points per game scoring average – to just five points on 1-for-8 shooting, not scoring until hitting a free throw with 10:57 left in the contest.
 
Milwaukee led by as many as 15 before Oakland started a second-half rally. Abram's 3 settled the game a bit to make it 43-34 and a Sessoms three pushed the advantage back to six at 48-42.
 
That was when the Grizzlies would storm back, using a 10-3 spurt to eventually edge ahead, 52-51, with just under eight minutes to play.
 
Sessoms huge night continued with another from long-range to give the Panthers the lead right back at 54-52 and another Abram triple broke another tie and kept MKE ahead, 57-54.
 
Oakland see-sawed back the lead a final time on a big three at 63-62, only to see Roy respond. He calmly dribbled down the court, answered with a deep three of his own to make it 65-63 and the Panthers would never trail again.
 
The defense did the rest, holding OU to misses on its final six attempts from the floor, with Abram sealing it from the line in the final seconds.
 
That quick start for the Panthers led the charge from the start. The team made each of its first three shots from the field and led 11-2 quickly and then by 10 at 15-5 following a pair of Vance Johnson free throws.
 
The hot streak stayed, with Jamar Madge drilling a corner three on the break to make it 20-8 at the 13:13 mark and Roy sinking another on the next possession to extend the advantage to 23-8.
 
Milwaukee again found itself up 15 at the midway point of the period at 29-14, but a cold stretch made it a close contest as the time ticked down to intermission. Oakland scored eight of the next 10 points and its run grew to 13-2 before a triple from Abram put a stop to it right at the 1:00 mark, giving MKE the 34-27 advantage it took into the locker room.
 
The team finished the night at 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor, hitting nine three's and almost 90 percent of its free throws. Oakland finished at 35.1 percent (20-of-57), with the Panthers outscoring the opposition, 26-16, in the paint.
 
Up next, the weekend trip to Michigan closes out with a stop at Detroit Mercy Saturday. Game time against the Titans is set for 12 p.m. CST.