MILWAUKEE – BJ Freeman led the way with 26 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team scored 13 of the final 16 points of the evening to claim a hard-fought 77-69 victory over Robert Morris Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (13-6, 7-2 Horizon League) led for the majority of the contest before the Colonials (8-12, 3-6 Horizon League) found a way to take a 66-64 lead with under four minutes to play.
 
From there Freeman took over, hitting a jumper to make it a new game at 66-66, converting three free throws on the next possession, and then making it seven points in a row with a driving layup that put the home team ahead 71-66 with 1:35 to play.
 
"BJ came up with seven straight points and just kind of rose to the moment," head coach Bart Lundy said. "Give credit to Robert Morris – they made 12 three's and I thought for a while we were really scrambling and not getting back and getting our defense set."
 
A 6-for-8 showing from the line over the final 55 seconds put the game away, moving the Panthers to 7-2 in conference play – their best start to the league slate since the 2008-09 campaign.
 
"Obviously, a lot of things we can improve on and clean up when you look at that stat sheet, but the object of the game is to score more points than them and we found a way to do it," Lundy said. "Proud of these young guys. Every situation we see, a lot of times, is their first time seeing it. To come out with a win – I thought this was a pivotal game for us coming off a loss. Having Youngstown coming in, this was a huge one."
 
Freeman added a team-high seven rebounds, knocking down 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
 
Markeith Browning II added 13 points and six rebounds, while Kentrell Pullian also had 13 points to go with three boards.
 
Moses Bol continues to play a prominent role off the bench, finishing with a career-high 10 points on a perfect shooting night (4-4 FG/2-2 FT) while coming up with four rebounds and three blocks in a season-high 25 minutes.
 
Kahliel Spear led RMU with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds; Jackson Last added 14 points and eight boards.
 
MKE led for the majority of the evening before the visitors first knotted things up at 42-42. Back-to-back three's from Pullian and Freeman ignited an 8-0 run, but RMU forced ties at 54-all and again at 58-58 before grabbing a 61-60 edge.
 
A Justin Thomas dunk briefly had Milwaukee back out ahead before the final four minutes of action heated up.
 
The Panthers came out strong, leading 18-8 following a 14-0 run and led by 10 for the first time at 21-11 on a three from Freeman. The lead was trimmed to five before a dunk from Ahmad Rand got the crowd into it and an alley-oop finished by Bol had the scoreboard at 35-28 before settling in for a 42-38 led at the break.
 
Milwaukee finished the contest at 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the floor overall, making 81.5 percent (22-of-27) from the line. The defense held RMU in check, limiting them to just 33.3 percent (23-of-69) overall despite 12 made 3's and a perfect 11-11 showing at the line.
 
With the win and a victory by Youngstown State over Green Bay, Saturday's contest against YSU just turned into the biggest regular-season matchup in quite some time for the Panthers with both teams in first place at 7-2. Tip time against the Penguins Saturday is set for 6 p.m. downtown.