MILWAUKEE – Patrick Baldwin Jr. led the way for the Milwaukee men's basketball team, opening the 2021-22 campaign with a 69-63 victory over MSOE Saturday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"First, I want to give credit to MSOE," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "They were a very tough team and played extremely hard. Give them credit – they put us in tough spots and, obviously, we need to get better in some areas. But this was a great opportunity for us to get in front of the fans here at Panther Arena and this was absolutely what we needed to start off this season."
 
Baldwin Jr. made his collegiate debut a successful one, leading the Panthers with 18 points and eight rebounds. He finished 6-of-10 from the floor, sinking 3-of-5 from three-point range.
 
"It felt really good," Baldwin Jr. said when asked how it felt to get back on the court. "Coming out here and finally getting to play against somebody else other than my teammates in practice. I thought it was fun."
 
Baldwin Jr. scored six straight as part of a 9-0 MKE run that finally put the Raiders away for good midway through the second half, taking the advantage to 10 at the time at 56-46 on a pair of PBJ free throws at the 9:01 mark.
 
The lead grew to as many as 14 late (68-54) before MSOE made a late furious push with the home starters on the bench over the final 90 seconds.
 
Tafari Simms joined Baldwin Jr. in double-figures, hitting for 10 on the day.
 
Josh Thomas added nine off the bench, while Jason Sinani chipped in eight.
 
Jordan Lathon contributed a statline of 6 points/8 rebounds/3 assists in his MKE debut.
 
The Panthers came out a bit sluggish, shooting 35.7 percent in the first half and found themselves trailing by five early in the second. A pair of baskets by Thomas started the surge and a layup and a dunk from Joey St. Pierre had Milwaukee leading by a point on a pair of occasions. The 9-0 surge that followed a few minutes later then helped the Panthers take control.
 
Up next, the season opens for real at North Dakota November 9. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and the contest is set to be aired on Bally Sports Wisconsin.