MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team scored the first 10 points of the second half in building an 11-point lead, but were unable to close it out in falling late to Youngstown State by a final score of 70-68 Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Hard-fought game and certainly one that we wanted badly," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Just a few plays that we didn't make and Youngstown made them. I think the difference in the game was obviously on the glass and at the free-throw line. They had 16 offensive rebounds and shot 27 free throws – that was their recipe, they won with that, and we have to get better, especially on the defensive glass."
 
The Panthers (1-6, 0-1 Horizon League) overcame a late deficit to lead by two points with two minutes remaining, only to see the Penguins (3-3. 1-0 Horizon League) hit a big three-pointer to retake the lead and then hold off a final MKE attempt to force overtime at the buzzer.
 
"We have a short turnround, playing Saturday at 11 a.m., so we have to get ready for the next one," Baldwin said. "No time to hang our heads."
 
DeAndre Gholston paced Milwaukee with a season-high 24 points, adding seven rebounds.
 
Donovan Newby was in double-figures again, finishing with 13, while Tafari Simms contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
 
Simms also hit a big three-pointer down the stretch that made it a new game at 64-all, with Joey St. Pierre adding a pair of free throws to extend the MKE lead to 66-64. YSU would then connect on a three to jump back ahead and held off the Panthers with a 3-for-4 showing from the line in the final minute.
 
Tevin Olison paced YSU with 18, with Owen Long filling it up for 17 points in just 23 minutes off the bench. It also took advantage of a large disparity at the free-throw line, finishing 23-of-27 compared to 10-of-14 for the Panthers.
 
Up a point at the break, Milwaukee came out strong in the second half. A triple from Gholston bridged the halves to complete an 11-1 run and forced a Penguin timeout at 37-28. The defense was great all night, but especially to that point, holding the visitors to one make in 18 attempts while building their biggest lead of the game at 39-28 with 16:21 remaining.
 
Youngstown slowly built momentum, using a 9-0 spurt to really dig back in and, after trading leads a few times, getting a big four-point play from Daniel Ogoro to forge ahead.
 
The first half saw YSU lead early, before Milwaukee would surge ahead 15-13 on a mid-range jumper and free throw from Jordan Lathon. Seven straight from the 'Guins stemmed the tide, but a block and dunk from Vin Baker Jr., followed by another dunk from Josh Thomas put the home team back ahead and forced a timeout by Youngstown State at 26-25.
 
Milwaukee eventually led, 29-28, at the break on a Newby three, holding its opponent to 23.5 percent shooting in the first half.
 
The defense was there all night, with YSU finishing at 31.3 percent (20-of-64) from the floor, compared to almost half (48.1, 26-of-54) for Milwaukee.
 
Up next, the Panthers remain at home and will make an appearance on national TV next hosting Robert Morris Saturday on ESPNU. Tip time is set for 11 a.m.