YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Michael Akuchie scored a career-high 33 points and helped Youngstown State build a halftime advantage that the Milwaukee men's basketball team could not overcome, falling by a final score of 86-72 Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.
 
The Panthers (7-15, 5-8 Horizon League) made it a game with a much-improved second half, scoring 51 points after intermission. The Penguins (12-10, 6-6 Horizon League) held them off at the end, however, getting a big three from Akuchie with under two minutes to play before going 8-for-10 from the line the final 96 seconds to secure the victory.
 
"I'm proud of our guys for that," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "They've always shown that fight when they've needed to, or we've been down, to make some timely threes and try to get back into the game. But it was just too much of a hole for us to dig out."
 
Jordan Lathon spurred the MKE comeback, scoring a season-high 20 points, including 17 in the second half, fueled by a solid 4-of-5 effort from three-point range.
 
DeAndre Gholston finished with 13 points and a career-best six assists, with Donovan Newby adding nine points and another 4-4 effort at the free throw line.
 
"We got off to a slow start again today and they had one player [Akuchie] who had 22 points in the first half and we just had a bad matchup with him," Baldwin said. "We have to get off to a better start and that has been the name of the game the past two games."
 
Akuchie netted his 33 on 10-of-17 shooting, making six of 10 tries from distance while adding eight rebounds. Will Dunn went for 19 points (6-7 FG/3-3 3's/4-4 FT).
 
It was all YSU at the break and the 'Guins grew the lead to as many as 26 at 49-23 before Milwaukee pushed back. It was down to 18 on a steal and layup from Josh Thomas at 64-46 and back to 15 on a hoop by Markeith Browning II with five-plus minutes left at 69-54.
 
That was all part of a 13-4 run that put the team's effort on full display, cutting it down to 10 at 72-62 on a big 3 from Devon Hancock. Akuchie then hit the biggest shot of the day, draining a backbreaking three with the shot clock expiring to push the YSU lead back to 14 at 78-64 and effectively seal the win.
 
The first half did not go the way of the Panthers, falling down 13-4 early, quickly forcing a timeout to try and stem the tide. YSU kept up the pressure, eventually grabbing a 22-8 advantage after sinking four of its first five three-point attempts.
 
The Panthers made a few mini runs, but Akuchie seemed to have an answer every time, outscoring MKE in the first half by himself, netting 22 as the home team built a 41-21 halftime lead and held Milwaukee to 32 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes.
 
The Panthers did connect on 56 percent (18-of-32) in the second half to reach 45.6 percent (26-of-57) for the afternoon. YSU converted 46.2 percent of its field goals (24-of-52), while outrebounding the Panthers 35-26 and making 25 of 30 attempts from the line, compared to just 19 attempts (13 makes) for Milwaukee.
 
Up next, the road trip continues for Milwaukee next week, seeing the team travel to Purdue Fort Wayne Friday. Tip off against the Mastodons is set for 6 p.m. CST.