MILWAUKEE – Te'Jon Lucas went from one end of the floor to the other in the final 4.8 seconds to give the Milwaukee men's basketball team a 64-62 buzzer-beating victory over UIC Sunday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"First of all, great college basketball game between two hungry teams," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "The thing that you look at is just the fight between both teams and you can see it with the score and ultimately, we came out on top. Excited to get this win this afternoon."
 
The Panthers (7-9, 2-2 Horizon League) faced an uphill climb all day against the Flames (6-11, 1-3 Horizon League), not leading the game until the final minutes. The visitors had forced a seventh tie of the day on the second-to-last possession, setting the table for Lucas and his heroics.
 
"Basically, we ran the play and coach trusted me with the ball in my hands," Lucas said. "I was able to make a play and get a good look and thankful for it going in."
 
Lucas took the inbounds near the free throw line and sped down the court. Four dribbles later, he got the shot off just outside of the lane on the right, laying it high off the backboard as the buzzer went off. The ball hit the front of the rim and dropped, handing Milwaukee the victory and setting off an on-court celebration.
 
Lucas led the way with 19 points, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and all four of his free throws.
 
Darius Roy also scored 19 points, coming up big from the free throw line down the stretch. He finished 9-for-9 from the charity stripe, adding eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Tarkus Ferguson led the Flames with 19, adding five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
 
"The theme of this was guard play," Baldwin said. "We knew coming in that UIC had a tremendous backcourt, guys that have been playing together for a long time, so we knew we had our work cut out for us."
 
The second half was a battle, with back-to-back 3's from Courtney Brown Jr., cutting a six-point hole to two at 44-42. A corner three by Roy led to a tie at 47-all.
 
MKE could not get over the hump, drawing even at 49-49 and 51-51, only to see UIC gain a touch of separation once again. Down by five, a three from Josh Thomas and two free throws drew the team even at 58-58. Roy then stole the inbounds and a Thomas layup gave the Panthers their first lead at 60-58 with 3:18 to play.
 
Great defense helped the cause, as UIC made its first field goal in over eight minutes to come up with the final tie.
 
The Panthers did well to keep it close in the first with a tough half from the field limiting options. It was Lucas early, scoring the first three baskets of the afternoon in front of a quick 7-0 UIC spurt that made it 13-6.
 
A made 3 by Lucas cut the deficit to 22-18 and Arturro Bingham was at it again, sinking a couple of long balls for his 8 first-half points, with a triple making it 22-21 at the 5:48 mark. UIC grew the advantage to 27-21 from that point, but Milwaukee dug back in before the break. The team scored six of the final eight to trail by just a bucket at intermission, 29-27.
 
MKE claimed the victory despite finishing at 31.7 percent (20-of-63) from the floor, helped along by a tough 40-32 rebounding edge (20 offensive boards), while also winning the turnover battle at 17-14.
 
Just one game on the slate next week, with the Panthers making the drive up I-43 to take on Green Bay Saturday. Game time against the Phoenix is set for 6 p.m.