DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee men's basketball team put together an impressive comeback effort before running out of time in the closing stages of the contest, falling to Wright State, 93-86, Thursday evening at the Nutter Center.
 
The Panthers (14-7, 8-3 Horizon League) gave it quite a go against the Raiders (12-10, 5-6 Horizon League) after intermission, scoring the fourth-most points (60) in a second half in school history in cutting a 24-point deficit down to just five with one minute to play. WSU would ice it at the line from there, however, making 7-of-8 free throws over the final 54 seconds to thwart the solid comeback effort.
 
"At the end of the day, we gave up 93 points, turned the ball over 19 times and got out-rebounded," head coach Bart Lundy said. "You can't win that way. This group has responded to losses, so they will do the same. Tonight wasn't a good one for us."
 
BJ Freeman led the way again for Milwaukee, scoring a game-high 26 points to become the first Panther to score 20-or-more in five straight games since December of 2002. He connected on 9-of-20 shots overall and made five more 3-pointers, adding three steals.
 
Justin Thomas added 17 points – all coming in the second half – while contributing three rebounds, three steals, and a career-best three blocks in the contest.
 
Zach Howell came off the bench to add his second double-digit scoring effort of the season, finishing with 11 points, helped along by a trio of shots from deep.
 
"They really fought and scrapped and we gave ourselves a chance," Lundy said of the comeback effort. "That's what you want to see, but we have to play better to start games."
 
WSU was led by four in double-figures, paced by career-highs from Alex Huibregtse (25 points) and Andrew Welage (19 points). Trey Calvin added 21.
 
The Panthers got off to a quick start before going cold from the floor. A slam dunk from Ahmad Rand made it 7-3 early but a quick 11-2 run by Wright State pushed the home team in front, 14-9.
 
A Freeman triple had Milwaukee back within four at 18-14, only to see a scoring run of 17-2 really turn the momentum in building a 35-16 lead. The deficit grew to 21 at the break at 47-26.
 
Down but not out, MKE used plenty of defense – forcing 21 turnovers on the night – to claw its way back in. The hole grew to 24 at its largest at 59-35 before the comeback effort started.
 
A 12-2 run helped get it started, with a three from Markeith Browning II making it a 10-point game at 80-70 with 4:01 to play. Howell connected on a couple of long 3's and a three-point play from Thomas had the lead down to five at 86-81 with 1:05 to play. WSU took care of business from the line the rest of the way to earn the victory.
 
MKE had a much-improved second half, shooting close to 50 percent after the break to finish at 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the floor overall. WSU hit 44.6 percent (29-of-65) of its field goals on the evening, but also claimed the rebounding battle, 43-39, and turned those 19 Milwaukee miscues into 30 points.
 
The Panthers head to Northern Kentucky next, set for a 3 p.m. CST tip-off against the Norse Saturday afternoon.