MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking decision in the closing seconds Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena, falling to Cleveland State by a final score of 70-68 on a made three-pointer with 6.8 seconds remaining.
 
"A tough loss," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "I thought our guys played extremely hard and that is what I love them for. They gave a great effort and it's unfortunate, from our standpoint, that we didn't make the last play to win it."
 
The Panthers (12-17, 7-10 Horizon League) had a final chance to win it, but a three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, allowing the Vikings (11-19, 7-10 Horizon League) to escape with the victory.
 
"We have to pick ourselves back up and get ready for our next one," Baldwin said. "No time to feel sorry for ourselves. Cleveland State made the play that was out there for them."
 
Darius Roy led the offense with a 26-point night, finishing a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range while also adding five rebounds and four assists.
 
Josh Thomas and C.J. Wilbourn added 10 points, while Te'Jon Lucas chipped in six points, four rebounds and seven assists.
 
"Give Cleveland State some credit," Baldwin said. "They played really well defensively and took away some of the things we wanted to do at the offensive end. They played us much better than they did in the first half."
 
Algevon Eichelberger paced the visitors with 20 points. Torrey Patton added 15 points, which included the long three-pointer on CSU's final possession.
 
In a back-and-forth contest that featured 10 ties and seven lead changes – with most of them coming in the second half – it was Milwaukee that seemed to capture momentum after the contest was knotted at 56, 59, 61 and 62-all.
 
Roy made four straight foul shots around a Viking make and, after Cleveland State had cut it to one at 66-65, Lucas came up with a steal and found Courtney Brown Jr. for a fastbreak dunk, putting MKE ahead, 68-65 with just over a minute remaining.
 
Torrey then scored on a layup and came up with a big offensive rebound to set the stage. He was dribbling on top with the clock counting down before hitting the long triple for what turned out to be the game winner.
 
Both teams came out shooting hot, with the Panthers trailing by as many as six at 22-16. A deep three from Roy turned the tide and made it a new game at 24-24, part of a 12-2 run that extended the home team advantage to 28-24.
 
The advantage grew to as many as 10 in the first half at 42-32 before settling in at 42-35 at intermission.
 
The Panthers shot 46 percent (23-of-50), while winning the rebounding battle, 30-28.
 
Up next, the regular season concludes Saturday, with a My24 Sports TV game against Youngstown State to conclude the slate. Tip time against the Penguins is set for 7 p.m.