DETROIT, Mich. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team followed up one of its best halves of the season with one of its toughest, falling to Detroit Mercy by a final score of 79-73 despite a late charge to make it close Sunday afternoon at Calihan Hall.
The Panthers (12-16, 7-9 Horizon League) shot close to 60 percent in the first half to build a comfortable advantage, only to see the Titans (7-22, 5-11 Horizon League) use a substantial scoring run to flip the decision in the matinee affair. Trailing by as many as 14 in the second, MKE used a very late 11-0 run to make it a one-possession game at 75-73 but could get no closer.
"This one hurts because we had the perfect game plan put together," head coach
Pat Baldwin said. "In the first half we defended really well. I told our guys it wasn't about the offensive end. We had the same shots – make or miss you still have to defend on the other end. We had a lot of breakdowns in the second half that led to them coming back and us not getting this win. This one hurts, we put too much in as a staff and as a group to get let down like this."
Darius Roy led the way with 19 points, one of five players to finish the afternoon in double-figures. Roy added six rebounds and six assists.
DeAndre Abram finished with a double-double off the bench of 12 points and 12 rebounds, while
Te'Jon Lucas chipped in with 13 points and eight assists.
Josh Thomas (11) and
C.J. Wilbourn (10) rounded out the list, while Antoine Davis – the leading scorer in the Horizon League – paced the home team with 27.
"You have to continue to play hard and you can't let up," Baldwin said. "I think the one thing we learned today is what winning teams do – they don't let up. We are still in that process of how to win completely and put teams away. You have to continue to play smart and unfortunately, we didn't do that. It started in the latter part of the first half and crept into the second."
Up 10 at the break and by as many as 17 in the first half, the second went the wrong way quickly for Milwaukee. A 15-5 run spanning both halves got Detroit Mercy back into it at 50-38 and the home team took its first lead at 52-51 on a three-pointer that capped a 23-7 stretch.
The Panthers kept getting good looks, but could get nothing to fall. The home team used a 14-0 spree to make it 57-52 and five in a row forced an MKE timeout at 67-57 with just under nine minutes to play. The overall run grew to 30-7 at 73-59 before one final MKE push. Eleven in a row made it a one-possession game with 38.9 seconds left but the team could get no closer.
It was a great first half for the Panthers, who led 45-28 before settling in for a 10-point advantage at the break. The team hit nearly 60 percent (.583) of its shots – a season-high for a first half – with Abram (12), Lucas (11) and Roy (10) all in double-figures by the break.
It was Abram who heated up first, scoring on back-to-back possessions to force a UDM timeout at 21-13. Thomas followed with a steal and dunk on the fastbreak, but the Titans had a quick 6-0 answer.
The lead was back up to 10, however, at 29-19 and a three from Roy pushed the lead to 12 at 36-24 with just over six minutes left in the first half.
Up next, the winter slate continues to wind down, with the team returning home for the final two games of the regular season. Up first is a Thursday contest against Cleveland State, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
