CLEVELAND, Ohio – DeAndre Gholston scored the game-winner with just 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Milwaukee men's basketball team pull off an improbable 81-80 victory Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
 
The Panthers (6-5, 5-4 Horizon League) trailed the first-place Vikings (10-5, 10-2 Horizon League) by 14 points with under three minutes to play before flipping the script and scoring 21 of the final 28 points of regulation, forcing overtime when Donovan Newby calmly sank three free throws with 10.5 seconds left on the clock in regulation.
 
"It's a big win for our guys, especially after not playing as well as we thought we could have yesterday and coming back today against a very good team," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Throughout the game, we never seemed to have control and it seemed like we were dead in the water when we were down 14 with two minutes and change left."
 
Te'Jon Lucas played a major role on the day, tying his career-high with 31 points while also recording the third double-double of his career with a team-high 10 rebounds. Lucas put the Panthers ahead a pair of occasions in the extra session, but his team still trailed, 80-79, with possession of the ball and about 25 seconds remaining.
 
Lucas got a good look at a three from the wing. It went off the back iron, bouncing back out the elbow. Courtney Brown Jr. alertly back-tapped the offensive rebound to Gholston at the top. He did the rest, driving the lane with a spin move, laying it in on the left side of the basket with his right hand.
 
Milwaukee had to defend one final attempt by the Vikings, with the three-quarter court shot on line, but coming up just short.
 
"We gave our guys goals throughout the timeouts in different segments of the game about how we wanted to cut the lead," Baldwin said. "And Te'Jon, the great leader that he is, just kept talking about 'continue to fight and believe' and our guys really stepped up. I am just really proud of our guys. They showed some resiliency in a tough weekend for us. I do want our guys to celebrate this, because it a tough and well-earned win."
 
Gholston finished with 21 despite being held scoreless in the first half. He added seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Lucas added five assists and a pair of steals to his 31-point/10-rebound statline, finishing 6-of-6 from the line.
 
Newby came up clutch in the closing seconds of regulation, fouled on a three-point attempt with Milwaukee trailing by three. His 3-of-3 effort capped a season-high 10-point night, finishing a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Milwaukee trailed by 11 at the break and were down double-digits much of the second half, facing a deficit that grew to as many as 16 on numerous occasions. With 2:46 remaining, the score was 66-52 before the final comeback started.
 
Gholston made three free throws and a Lucas layup brought the Panthers within nine at 66-57 with 1:28 to go. Newby's layup and free throw trimmed it to six before Amir Allen stole an inbounds pass and found Lucas for a layup to make it 68-64.
 
Lucas then hit a big three to make it a two-point game at 69-67 and Gholston's triple with 20 seconds left had MKE within one at 71-70. Cleveland State connected on a pair of free throws, with Newby capping the comeback with his trio of free throws with 10.5 seconds remaining. 
 
At the start, the cold shooting from deep continued from Friday, with Milwaukee missing its first seven from deep. Despite that, the Panthers continued to fight and the lead went back-and-forth early. Lucas hit the first MKE three of the day to cut the deficit to 13-11, but CSU took control to lead 28-18, forcing a timeout.
 
A good defensive effort over the first 20 minutes helped, but cold shooting from the floor saw the Panthers trail, 34-23, at intermission.

For the game, Milwaukee finished at 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, with CSU at 44.4 percent (28-of-63). Up next, The Panthers close out the month of January at IUPUI for a pair of games, starting off the series Friday at 5 p.m. CST.