MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team cut a 20-point first-half deficit down to just one in the final minute, but Eastern Illinois went 6-for-6 from the line over the final 15.8 seconds to escape with the 75-68 victory Saturday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (5-6) had the chance to draw even with the visiting Panthers (6-4) with just under three minutes remaining. Darius Roy hit back-to-back 3's in the final minute to draw within one at 69-68, only to see EIU seal the win from the free throw line the rest of the way.
 
"They showed us a will to win that we didn't have tonight and we gave some effort that was too late," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "They just took it to us from the very beginning and we just couldn't recover."
 
Roy led the way with 24 points, adding three rebounds and four steals.
 
Josh Thomas finished with 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
 
Te'Jon Lucas chipped in 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.
 
"It's just disappointing how we came out and played," Baldwin said. "Had no fight, didn't compete as hard as I thought that we would, coming back home – having not been here for a few weeks – it's just disappointing. We have to get off the canvas and get back to work."
 
Mack Smith led Eastern Illinois with 24 points, much of it coming on six three-pointers. George Dixon added a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards.
 
Down a dozen at the break, MKE quickly was within six at 48-42 on a Lucas layup at the 18:08 mark but proceeded to go cold from the floor. EIU pushed back with 10 straight, building its advantage back to 16 at 58-42.
 
Down, but not out, the Panthers went on a 15-2 scoring run of their own, eventually cutting the gap to one possession at 60-57 after a Lucas layup with 7:02 remaining. A chance to tie following a defensive stop rimmed out.
 
A rough first half, but Milwaukee stuck in there. Down 8-3 early, a cold start from the floor helped EIU climb out to leads of 14-5 and then 24-10 following a 10-0 run. The deficit grew to 20 at 31-11, but Milwaukee pushed back, using a 15-6 strike to counter back to 11 on a Thomas 3 at the 4:04 mark.
 
It then shrank to as low as nine at 41-32 on an Amir Allen make. The lead sat at 46-34 at intermission, with the visiting Panthers shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
 
EIU finished the night at 49.1 percent (28-of-57), while Milwaukee was at 30.4 percent (21-of-69) and forced 22 turnovers.
 
Up next, the Panthers play a final game before Christmas break, making the trip west to Madison to take on Wisconsin Saturday. Game time against the Badgers is set for 4 p.m. from the Kohl Center.