DETROIT, Mich. – BJ Freeman matched his career high with 23 points and Kentrell Pullian added 20 to help the Milwaukee men's basketball team claim an impressive bounce-back 84-81 victory over Detroit Mercy Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall.
 
The Panthers (9-5, 3-1 Horizon League) led by as many as 15 early before opening up a close game against the Titans (6-9, 2-2 Horizon League) with a huge 20-4 scoring run in the second half. They then held on at the end to knock off a Detroit team that came into the day 20-1 in its last 21 home games.
 
"We made some big shots but it was the defensive intensity over a period of time that I thought won the game for us," head coach Bart Lundy said of the decisive scoring run. "Antoine (Davis) is an amazing scorer, but he earned every one of those 30 points and they were really tough shots. But I thought our pressure and our full-court press wore them down as the game went on and allowed us to go on that run when they got a little fatigued."
 
Freeman went for those 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, hitting half of his six three-point attempts while adding five rebounds. Pullian finished 5-for-10 from downtown and chipped in with a team-high seven rebounds in his 20-point effort.
 
Justin Thomas scored all 11 of his points in the second half, adding four rebounds and three assists. He also played a key role in that 20-4 run that decided the game, accounting for five of his 11 in that span with his layup and free throw giving MKE the lead for good on the day at 62-60.
 
"Justin came off the bench today and I thought he really responded to that role," Lundy said. "He made huge shots, he made big-boy plays at the basket and then he stepped up and made free throws."
 
Antoine Davis, who came into the game ranked No. 2 in the country with his 24.1 ppg scoring average, did finish with a game-high 31. But the Milwaukee defense held tight in the final 16.8 seconds, contesting a pair of 3's that could have forced overtime – including one from Davis – to snap a six-game losing streak in the series.
 
Jalen Johnson finished with five points, none bigger than his runner in the lane with 1:46 to play that made it 84-77 and also put him at 1,000 points in his NCAA Division I collegiate career.
 
"I would say that was the biggest shot of the game for us," Lundy said. "When they were making a run, he went through contact, put the ball in the basket … it was the biggest two points for us and 999 and 1,000 for him."
 
Detroit Mercy came out strong in the second half, turning a two-point halftime deficit into a 57-52 advantage over the opening six minutes of the period. From there it was all Milwaukee, with Ahmad Rand capping the 20-4 stretch with a three-point play of his own to extend the lead to 72-61 with seven minutes to play.
 
The Panthers were in control the rest of the day and still led by seven on Johnson's bucket before holding on at the end to claim their first win in Detroit since February of 2018.
 
It was a great start for the Panthers, who scored the first eight points of the afternoon and led 15-5 on a floater in the lane from Elijah Jamison. It was 20-10 on a Freeman 3 and the lead grew to 14 at 26-12 on a Jamison fastbreak layup.
 
The Panthers kept up the pressure and Pullian put together a great first half, scoring 13 in the opening period including a three that made in 29-16. Freeman's putback on the next possession then gave MKE its largest lead of the period at 31-16 with 8:55 remaining.
 
Davis then caught fire, scoring 12 points in a three-minute span to help get the Titans back in the game. Detroit Mercy cut the margin to eight on an 8-2 run before Vincent Miszkiewicz hit a three of his own to push it back to 11 at 39-28.
 
The Titans scored 14 of the final 19 points of the frame, including a layup at the buzzer that made it a one-possession game at 44-42.
 
The Panthers finished at 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the floor in the game, connecting on 46.2 percent (12-of-26) of their 3-point attempts. The defense limited the Titans to 43.3 percent (29-of-67) overall.
 
Up next, Milwaukee opens the 2023 portion of the campaign with more road games, traveling next to battle Cleveland State Jan. 5. That game will tip off at 6 p.m. CST