NASSAU, Bahamas – The Milwaukee men's basketball team ran out of time in mounting a late comeback, falling by a final score of 66-63 to George Washington Sunday afternoon in the consolation final of the "Islands of the Bahamas Showcase".
The Panthers (5-3) cut a late 10-point deficit down to a single possession before time ran out in falling to the Colonials (3-4).
Darius Roy led the offense with 14 points, adding a team-high six rebounds.
"We definitely ran out of time," head coach
Pat Baldwin said. "We had some opportunities – especially in transition – to score and we didn't convert on a handful of them. We also had opportunities earlier in the game when we cut it under 10 a few times but didn't make the plays we needed on both ends."
Josh Thomas was in double-figures off the bench again with 11 and
Amir Allen made 4-of-6 field goals to finish with 10 points.
Armel Potter led GW with a game-high 22 points.
DeAndre Abram and
Te'Jon Lucas each finished with nine for Milwaukee, which was playing its third game in three days in the event.
"It's tough, but George Washington had the same circumstances," Baldwin said. "We have to find a way to play better. We have to learn from this, get better and when we are in a tournament situation again, we need to remember this day."
The MKE defense was at it again, keeping the team in the game until the very end.
"I like how we are defensively," Baldwin said. "I just want to make sure we are matching what we are doing on the defensive end with what the offense is doing. When we are getting stops, we have to convert and make plays on the other end."
Trailing by five at the half, GW started to pull away and extended its lead to as many as 13 at 46-33. Milwaukee would never give up, but every time the team was within 10, the Colonials had an answer.
Until late. Down 10 again at 61-51, Roy hit a trio of free throws after getting fouled shooting a three-pointer. Thomas hit a layup to then make it 61-56 with 28 seconds left.
GW didn't help the Milwaukee cause, going 9-for-11 from the free throw line in the final minute of the day.
Abram made a layup to get back within five and Roy hit a three as the buzzer sounded to provide the final scoring in the contest.
Milwaukee finished the day at 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the floor, but hit just three 3's in the game. GW ended the afternoon at 42.0 percent (21-of-50).
Up next, the Panthers are off for the Thanksgiving week holiday and return to the court Dec. 3. That day, they travel to Drake to take on the Bulldogs in a non-conference matchup set to start at 7 p.m.
