GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team used a 17-1 scoring run midway through the second half to take control and earn a 63-49 victory over Green Bay Wednesday night at the Resch Center.
 
The Panthers (5-9, 3-2 Horizon League) led early by a dozen, only to see the Phoenix (2-12, 1-4 Horizon League) claw all the way back and make it a new game at 33-33. From there it was all Milwaukee, scoring 17 of the next 18 points to earn the hard-fought victory.
 
"Just a great defensive effort by our guys, really paid attention to the scouting report," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Very fortunate to get out of here with a road win and ready to move forward. A great win, and we look forward to getting out to Michigan to play Detroit."
 
The defense led the way again, holding GB to 27.8 percent (15-of-54) from the floor on the night, the fourth time this season that Milwaukee has held an opponent below 30 percent with its league-leading defense.
 
"That's definitely been a focus of ours, is on the defensive end," Baldwin said. "Our guys are really buying into that end and playing their roles specifically. We're definitely keying in."
 
DeAndre Gholston led the way with 16 points, adding five rebounds. Josh Thomas joined him in double-figures at 13 points, finishing 6-of-9 from the floor while adding three rebounds.
 
Joey St. Pierre went for eight points, a team-best seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
 
Kamari McGee paced the Phoenix with a game-high 22 points.
 
Up as many as 12 in the first half and holding a seven-point cushion at the break, Milwaukee saw Green Bay battle all the way back, using a 12-5 run to make it 33-all and force a timeout by Baldwin.
 
His timeout worked out perfectly, leading immediately to that 17-1 run in which the defense held GB without a field goal of any kind for a span of over six minutes.
 
A Gholston three really got the offense going, making it 44-34 with 14:16 left as part of 11 of 12 points from the MKE offense.
 
The final tally saw the Panthers forge ahead at 50-34 with 10:37 left on a pair of Gholston free throws, with the Phoenix cutting it down to nine momentarily before the advantage was 10-plus the rest of the night.
 
Milwaukee used an early 7-2 spurt to jump ahead 15-10 on a Thomas layup midway through the first. The lead kept growing as Patrick Baldwin Jr. made it the largest of the opening frame at 26-14 with under three to go before intermission. MKE held Green Bay to under 25 percent (.222) from the floor and led 28-21 at the break.
 
Offensively, the Panthers shot a quiet 49 percent (25-of-51) from the floor overall, resulting in an impressive 42-18 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Up next, Milwaukee continues the five-game road trip with a game at Detroit Mercy Friday. The game, which has been selected for the league's ESPN2 broadcast, gets underway at 6 p.m. CST.