MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team cut a 21-point first-half deficit down to just one point late, but could not find a way to complete the comeback in falling to Detroit Mercy, 90-84, Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (8-10, 3-3 Horizon League) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Titans (4-15, 2-4 Horizon League), who used a huge first-half from Antoine Davis to build what turned out to be an insurmountable lead.
 
"Disappointing night, to say the least," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We spotted Detroit a ton of points and dug ourselves a hole. Fifty-five points in the first half, you're not going to beat anybody like that. Our guys had to respond, and they did. They gave us an opportunity to get back into the game by making some plays late, but we didn't make enough of them."
 
DeAndre Abram led MKE by posting his eighth career double-double, finishing with season-bests with his 26 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Darius Roy finished with 24 points, adding six rebounds and five assists.
 
Te'Jon Lucas contributed 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals.
 
Davis entered the night third in the country and first in the Horizon League at 23.7 points per game. He scored 24 of his game-high 29 in the first half, making 5-of-7 from three-point range.
 
Facing an 18-point deficit at the break, the Panthers kept chipping away. A Roy triple made it 65-48 and another from long-range had it down to a dozen at 68-56.
 
The comeback continued, getting down to 10 at 76-66 and down to seven on a three-pointer by Abram, which capped a 7-0 spurt and mad the score 76-69 with 8:34 remaining.
 
A pair of Abram free throws capped a 12-2 run and had MKE within four points at 78-74. Milwaukee then came one step away from coming all the way back, with a three from the corner from Arturro Bingham cutting the Titan lead down to just one at 84-83 with 1:18 to play.
 
The comeback effort was silenced there, with Marquis Moore converting a layup and free throw to extend the advantage back to four and help Detroit Mercy escape with the upset.
 
Milwaukee came out ahead early, 12-5, after scoring nine in a row. The game went then back-and-forth, with Roy hitting a three that pushed the home lead back to 17-13. From there it was all Titans. A 9-0 spurt forced an MKE timeout, but it didn't stop there. The scoring run that decided the game topped out at 19-2, giving the visitors a 32-19 lead. It eventually grew to 21 in the first half at 52-31 before dipping back to 55-38 at intermission.
 
The Panthers shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the floor, while Detroit Mercy was at 45.6 percent (26-of-57). Milwaukee won the turnover battle, 17-12, and was edged on rebounds at 40-35.
 
Up next, the homestand closes out Saturday, with the first My24 TV game of the season against Oakland. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. against the Golden Grizzlies.