MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team was unable to hold on to a late lead against Green Bay, falling by a final score of 94-90 Saturday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Tough loss for our guys, we really competed in this game and I knew our guys wanted to win this game," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "I thought they gave that effort. Unfortunately, some balls didn't go our way. One thing we were disappointed at was our defense – we think we are a better defensive team than that, but gave up a lot of transition points and points in the paint."
 
The Panthers (12-14, 7-7 Horizon League) used a 12-2 scoring run to surge ahead of the Phoenix (13-14, 8-6 Horizon League) early in the second half and still led in the final minute. The visitors came up with some key turnovers, however, helping them score the final five points of the night and escape with the victory.
 
"Have to get back to the drawing board. This league is very tough and it's not going to get any easier," Baldwin said. "The thing that we have to do is take this like men, bounce back, and get ready for our next one coming up."
 
Te'Jon Lucas, Darius Roy and DeAndre Abram all finished with 20 points to lead the way for Milwaukee, on a night the program was celebrating the 15^th anniversary of the run to the "Sweet 16" with players in attendance from the 2004-05 roster.
 
Lucas added eight assists and three steals, while Roy finished with four assists and three steals. Abram chipped in five rebounds off the bench, connecting on 5-of-9 attempts from three-point range.
 
In all, five players finished in double-figures with Harrison Henderson contributing 13 points and four rebounds (in just 16 minutes), while Josh Thomas checked in at 10 points.
 
Amari Davis (28) and JayQuan McCloud (26) paced the potent GB offense, which shot 56.9 percent (33-of-58) from the floor after the Milwaukee defense had held its past four consecutive opponents to below 40 percent overall.
 
Down six at intermission, MKE tied the game at 61 on a Lucas three and went ahead, 64-61, on a Thomas three the next possession. That surge eventually grew to 12-2, with a steal and layup by Roy forcing a timeout by Green Bay at 70-63 with 13:18 to play.
 
The advantage grew to as many as eight at 73-65 before the Phoenix pushed back. Six in a row trimmed it to 76-73, but Milwaukee held tight. A three from Abram stemmed the tide at 82-78 and another three by Thomas made it 87-82 with 3:17 to play.
 
Green Bay wasn't done, eventually flip-flopping the lead again – the game featured seven tied and 12 lead changes overall – at 89-88. Lucas' free throws put the Panthers back ahead with 36.2 left, but that would be the final points the team would record.
 
An entertaining fast-paced first half, it started with Lucas connecting on back-to-back field goals, with his five points putting MKE ahead, 10-8. The contest was knotted at 12-12 with Green Bay inching ahead, 17-15. The Phoenix then used a 7-0 spurt to grab an early advantage at 24-15 with just over 11 minutes to play before the Panthers had an answer.
 
MKE finished at 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor, connecting on a season-best 15 three-pointers.
 
The Panthers embark on their final road trip of the regular season next, heading to the state of Michigan for a pair of games. Up first is a contest against Oakland Friday, set for a 7 p.m. CST tipoff.