YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Milwaukee men's basketball team flipped the script down the stretch to force overtime and then never trailed in the extra session to earn a 75-73 victory over Youngstown State Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.
The Panthers (10-10, 5-3 Horizon League) scored 10 of the final 14 points of regulation against the Penguins (11-10, 4-4 Horizon League), with
Darius Roy putting the team ahead, 66-65, on a layup with 22.1 seconds left before heading to overtime.
"This was a hard-fought game; a hard-fought win and our guys really battled through us being up 10 at half and then getting down by as much as six in the second half," head coach
Pat Baldwin said. "They really fought through a lot of things, but this is a great win in a tough place to play and I am glad that our guys withstood this challenge and came through."
Courtney Brown Jr. gave Milwaukee a quick lead in overtime on a three-pointer and Roy's free throw with 3.9 seconds left was followed by a final defensive stand to help hand YSU its first home loss this season in nine games with the two-point decision.
"It was a huge relief to get that first basket to go through (in overtime)," Baldwin said. "Our guys were extremely resilient and fought the entire time through. This is a great team win."
Roy finished with 10 points, with six of them coming in the closing minutes of regulation to help MKE complete the comeback after leading by 10 in the second half. In addition to the layup with 22.1 seconds left, Roy also made it 64-64 with 1:53 remaining.
Roy was one of four players in double-figures, joined by
DeAndre Abram (19),
Josh Thomas (15) and
Te'Jon Lucas (10).
Abram and Thomas became the first teammates to record double-doubles in the same game in nearly four seasons, with Abram adding a game-high 13 rebounds and Thomas finishing with a season-high 11 boards.
Lucas added five assists and three rebounds but had to head to the bench with 11 minutes remaining when he picked up his fourth foul.
Donel Cathcart paced YSU with 19 points.
Up 10 early in the second at 46-36, the Panthers went cold from the floor, allowing the Penguins back in the game. The run grew to 13-0 and Milwaukee trailed at 49-46, with a timeout helping stop the momentum.
Abram's jumper had MKE back within one at 52-51, but YSU again had an answer, with a big 3 making it 62-56 with 5:11 to play.
Lucas went back on the court, hitting a jumper to start the comeback. Milwaukee then got buckets from Roy and
Wil Sessoms and then made it a new game on Roy's layup at 64-64.
The Panthers held the lead the first four-plus minutes of overtime before a 71-71 tie. Abram connected on a big jumper to forge ahead 73-71 and a 2-of-4 showing from the line the final 15 seconds was enough to escape.
Up 11-8 early in the night behind six points from Thomas, both teams came out red-hot and missed just two attempts out of the first 14 combined on the night. The Panthers actually made eight of their first nine, but gained no separation at 17-16.
YSU grabbed a touch of momentum and scored five straight to lead, 26-22. From there it was all Milwaukee until the break. Abram hit a jumper to give MKE the lead and followed the next possession with a dunk that forced a YSU timeout at 30-27 with just under six minutes to play.
Amir Allen's 3-point play extended the lead to 36-29 at the 4:19 mark and Lucas hit a baseline jumper to up the advantage to seven at 38-31. Sessoms basket on the final play of the half gave the visitors their first double-figure lead at 42-32 to help the team close the period on a 20-6 run.
Overall, the Panthers finished the night at 41.6 percent (32-of-77) from the floor overall after a hot start to the night. The team made just three 3's and only hit half of its free throws (8-of-16) but did enough to earn the gritty league road win.
The team again won the rebounding (45-43) and the turnover (10-15) battles
Up next, the Panthers remain in Ohio for the weekend, heading to Cleveland State for a matinee matchup Saturday. Tip time against the Vikings is set for 2 p.m. CST.
