MILWAUKEE – Purdue Fort Wayne shot 65.6 percent in the second half and connected on its final six field goals of the night to claim an 81-72 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Friday at the Klotsche Center.
 
The Panthers (5-3, 4-2 Horizon League) led for much of the first half but could not find a way to keep the Mastodons (5-5, 4-5 Horizon League) from pulling away late. The visitors took their final lead at 61-60 with 7:20 left, led by just a bucket at 68-66, but used a late 8-1 run after that to ice the victory.
 
"It's disappointing back at home," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We felt like we were doing some really good things in the game. Obviously, in the second half, we just couldn't grab control of the game and get the defensive stops that we needed to. Ultimately, they started hitting shots at the right time and we couldn't find the basket and make the plays necessary to win."
 
DeAndre Gholston led the way with 16 points, adding four rebounds and a pair of steals. Josh Thomas finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Tafari Simms joined them in double-figures with 10.
 
Jarred Godfrey, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, put together a 23 point/10 rebound/7 assist night to lead the charge for the 'Dons. Dylan Carl added 10 points, eight of them coming in the second half.
 
"It's a short turnaround and we have to bounce back and make the necessary adjustments to win tomorrow," Baldwin said. "When you are trying to scratch and claw for everything, you can't make and have those breakdowns. Give them credit. They took advantage of some of those errors and shot over 65 percent in the second half – so that's not good enough for us to win."
 
Tied early in the second half, MKE was down a bucket before charging back on consecutive layups from Thomas to lead, 45-41.
 
From there, a 9-2 Purdue Fort Wayne run turned the tide to edge ahead, 50-47. Devin Hancock hit a three to square it at 52-all, following by another triple a few possessions later to inch the Panthers ahead at 58-55.
 
The Mastodons kept hitting, taking the lead they would not relinquish and then kept Milwaukee at bay. Six straight forced a timeout with MKE down, 74-66. A 5-of-6 effort from the line in the final minute prevented any chance of a late comeback. 
 
The first half saw the Panthers try and gain some separation, yet scoring runs from the Mastodons kept the contest close. MKE scored the first five of the day and led, 7-2, on its way to building a solid 18-8 advantage courtesy of a 9-0 run which forced a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout. 
 
That did the trick, with the swing of the game quickly turned, spurred by a 14-0 run by the visitors that sent the Panthers scrambling. They clawed back, knotting the score at 24-24 on a three by Gholston and then back ahead on a pair of Simms free throws at 26-24. 
 
The Mastodons again had something to say about it, scoring seven unanswered to lead 31-26 prior to Grant Coleman drilling a pair of late three's to give Milwaukee the 36-33 lead into the locker room. 
 
Milwaukee connected on just 38.8 percent (26-of-67) of its attempts from the floor overall, with PFW finishing at 53.4 percent (31-of-58) after its big second half. The Mastodons also won the rebounding battle, 44-29, and outscored Milwaukee by a final tally of 44-24 in the paint.
 
These two teams will wrap up the series tomorrow, set to tip at 6 p.m.