MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team locked down defensively on Oakland in the first half in building a big lead and then took over down the stretch to claim an 88-78 victory Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Proud of our guys tonight," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "They prepared extremely well this week for this game and it seemed like everything was clicking our way from the defensive end. And our guys really locked in – whether it was good plays or bad plays – they were focused and locked in the entire game."
 
The Panthers (7-12, 5-5 Horizon League) held the first-place Golden Grizzlies (13-5, 7-1 Horizon League) to just 21.4 percent shooting in the first half in building a 37-23 advantage. Oakland tried to get back into the game to start the second half, but Milwaukee had an answer every time in claiming the big victory, handing the visitors their first league loss of the season while also snapping OU's six-game winning streak.
 
"To get a game like this against a very good Oakland team that came in extremely hot, this was a great start to the weekend," Baldwin said. "And now we know we have to get ready to finish off the weekend."
 
Josh Thomas led the way with 22 points off the bench, hitting on an efficient 10-of-13 from the floor while capping the thrilling win with an emphatic fastbreak dunk in the closing seconds. His .769 field-goal percentage for the night ties for the fifth-best shooting performance in school history in a single game.
 
Thomas wasn't the only Panthers with a great night, joined by four other teammates in double-figures. Vin Baker Jr. scored a career-high 16 points, carrying the load in the first half with 12 big points. He added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
Jordan Lathon put together a great all-around performance, finishing with a season-high 16 points, while adding six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.
 
Tafari Simms added 13 off the bench, while DeAndre Gholston finished with 10. Donovan Newby was close behind, adding nine points and seven assists to tie a career-high in the helper category.
 
Oakland was led by 17 points from Jamal Cain, while the MKE defense limited the potent offense to 31.3 percent (21-of-67) shooting from the field overall. A huge advantage at the line – 36 attempts to just 13 for Milwaukee – kept the Grizz in the game most of the evening. The Panthers did not even shoot their second free throw of the contest until the 3:34 mark of the second half – before then helping put the game away with 12 straight made free throws the rest of the way to finish at 100 percent (13-for-13) in the game.
 
Up 14 at the break, MKE knew Oakland would come out and try and make a statement. OU scored the first six points to trim the lead to four, but a Simms three stemmed the tide at 47-41 before hitting another on the next possession. Lathon then finished a fastbreak layup and the 8-0 spurt pushed the lead back to 52-41.
 
Lathon scored a fallaway baseline jumper after passing the ball to himself from the baseline off a defender's back, and then Thomas hit a three that felt like it put the game away at 70-56 with 5:02 to go.
 
The Grizzlies weren't done yet, getting it down to six late before the Milwaukee free throws secured the big win, setting off the crowd on the Thomas fastbreak dunk with 12.8 seconds left.
 
MKE came out of the gates up 6-0, but a 12-0 run by the visitors turned the game around and forced a Baldwin timeout. The contest was then back to even at 12-12 on a jumper from Gholston and the MKE defense limited Oakland to one made field goal over the final 13 minutes of the half to build the lead.
 
The Panthers finished the night at 54.0 percent (34-of-63) from the floor overall, winning the battle on the glass, 43-35. Points in the paint went the home team's way (34-24), as did bench points (37-20).
 
Up next, Milwaukee closes out the four-game homestand with a matchup against Detroit Mercy Saturday. Game time against the Titans is set for 2 p.m.