MILWAUKEE – Cleveland State built a comfortable halftime lead and then kept the Milwaukee men's basketball team from closing the gap in claiming a 78-61 victory Friday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"The first half was really tough and we dug ourselves a deep hole," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We really tried to be more aggressive in the second half and we had our opportunities. The game was almost set in the first half, not playing as well as we wanted to and too much of a hole to come back from."
 
The first-place Vikings (18-7, 14-4 Horizon League) led the Panthers (9-19, 7-12 Horizon League) by 17 at the break and then held firm each time Milwaukee mounted any type of comeback attempt.
 
Joey St. Pierre led the offense with 12 points, finishing a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor while adding three rebounds.
 
Jordan Lathon also finished in double-figures with 11, adding four rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Cleveland State was led by 20 points from Tre Gomillion, one of four visitors in double-figures.
 
MKE had the lead down to 10 at 57-47 on a three-pointer by Donovan Newby but CSU answered with six of the next eight points.
 
The Panthers made another surge a few minutes later, only to be let down by missing the front end of three straight bonus free-throw situations with the deficit down to 11. Milwaukee would get no closer the rest of the way.
 
"When you are given those opportunities, you have to take advantage of it and unfortunately we didn't tonight," Baldwin said. "When the plays are out there, you definitely have to capitalize on opportunities."
 
The Vikings used a 10-0 stretch to make an initial opening against the Panthers, after the home team led 7-3 early on a three by Devon Hancock. CSU did strike for six in a row early but another three, this time by DeAndre Gholston, lifted Milwaukee back ahead, 12-11.
 
That first 10-0 surge by the visitors made it 24-16 and, after keeping the Panthers at bay for a stretch, used a second 10-0 spree to really take control at 40-22. The scoreboard read 42-25 at the break, with CSU holding a 21-9 advantage on the glass.
 
Milwaukee finished a respectable 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor, but got out-rebounded by a huge 39-23 margin and made just 8-of-16 free throws compared to a 24-of-30 effort from the charity stripe.
 
Up next, the five-game homestand wraps up with the final home contest of the regular season, hosting Purdue Fort Wayne Sunday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. and the matchup will also serve as "Senior Day" for the program.