CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Milwaukee men's basketball team came all the way back from a large early deficit, but was unable to complete the comeback in falling to Cleveland State by a final score of 64-53 at the Wolstein Center Friday night.
 
The Panthers (5-5, 4-4 Horizon League) never panicked against the first-place Vikings (10-4, 10-1 Horizon League) despite falling behind from the start when CSU scored 23 of the first 25 points of the evening.
 
"It was just unfortunate that we didn't get off to a great start," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We just can't get off to a start like that and think that we're going to beat a good team – especially a team that's at the top of our league."
 
DeAndre Gholston led the offense with 20 points, adding seven rebounds. He was joined in double-figures by Te'Jon Lucas (16 points/7 rebounds) and Grant Coleman (11 points).
 
Craig Beaudion paced CSU with 25 points, connecting on 8-of-10 field goals in the game.
 
Milwaukee cut the deficit to just two by the break and went ahead early in the second half on a three from Coleman and led, 36-33, on the next possession on a pair of free throws from Gholston.
 
"I thought our guys were ready but we were back on our heels a little bit when they started making shots and gave them momentum early in the first half," Baldwin said. "But our guys fought back and made it a game after getting off to such a rough start."
 
The lead, however, was short-lived. From there, Cleveland State was able to take back momentum. Tied at 40-40, CSU scored seven straight to build a cushion. MKE was back within three on a Coleman triple at 49-46, but that was as close as it would get the rest of the way.
 
"No time to feel sorry for ourselves," Baldwin said. "We have to get right back and get ready for another game tomorrow."
 
The first eight minutes of the night could not have gone worse for the Panthers, who connected on just one of their first 14 field goals while Cleveland State got off to what felt like an insurmountable 23-2 start.
 
MKE stopped the bleeding with a 9-2 spurt and then just kept chipping away, helped along immensely by Gholston's 16 first-half points and a 12-0 run that trimmed the margin down to 30-23 at the final media timeout. The Panthers shot close to 70 percent following that big hole and outscored CSU 29-10 the rest of the period to trail by just two at the break at 33-31.
 
For the contest, the cold second half brought the Panthers to under 30 percent (17-of-58) overall from the floor on the night. CSU ended at 44.2 percent (23-of-52), with Milwaukee claiming the rebounding battle at 43-38, led by a team-high eight boards by Amir Allen.
 
The series wraps up Saturday with a 4 p.m. CST tip.