FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Kentrell Pullian had 19 points and BJ Freeman added 15 points and seven rebounds to help the Milwaukee men's basketball team pick up another road victory, this time topping Purdue Fort Wayne by a final score of 74-70 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.
 
The Panthers (11-5, 5-1 Horizon League) held the Mastodons (11-6, 3-3 Horizon League) below 40 percent from the field on the day and had an answer for every comeback attempt that the home team made down the stretch.
 
"Hopefully winning these road games will help us," head coach Bart Lundy said. "But of course we have to take care of our home court too. It's good to be where we are at, but we have to continue to grow."
 
With the victory, Milwaukee completed the weekend road sweep of the two teams that shared the Horizon League regular-season title a year ago in Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. It also improves the team to 5-1 in league play – its best conference start since 2011-12 – and moves them into sole possession of first place in the league standings for the first time since January of 2012.
 
Pullian added three rebounds and three steals to his team-high 19 points, coming up with a couple of key three-pointers that gave the momentum back to the Panthers.
 
"BJ (Freeman), KP (Pullian), Ahmad had a big dunk … a lot of good stuff and good plays down the stretch," Lundy said of the closing minutes of the contest. "We will celebrate this one until midnight, put it away and start working towards the next one."
 
BJ Freeman's 15-point day included the biggest three of the afternoon – a shot that gave Milwaukee the 70-61 advantage with 2:01 left to play.
 
Markeith Browning II added a statline of 14 points/5 assists/4 rebounds and Moses Bol played a huge role in the closing minutes of the first half, finishing with a career-high seven points while adding two rebounds and two blocks.
 
"Moses was awesome on both ends of the floor," Lundy said. "He really affected the game. Opportunistic baskets at the end of the first half, made his free throw, and that spread at halftime really helped propel us in the second half."
 
Jared Godfrey led Purdue Fort Wayne – which came into the game 7-1 on its home court this season – with 22 points.
 
Up seven at the break, a Pullian 3 pushed the advantage back to double-figures at 44-34. The lead grew to 12 on a dunk from Ahmad Rand and a layup from Pullian to make it 48-36 at the 16:47 mark.
 
But the Mastodons wouldn't go quietly and were back with four at 50-46 in front of another Rand dunk that turned momentum.
 
Pullian drained another three to extend to 57-46 and Freeman hit a triple of his own before blocking a three on the other end and getting the layup to make it 64-51 with just over six minutes remaining.
 
The final PFW push had the team within six only to see Pullian knock one down from distance at 67-58 in front of the Freeman three that essentially iced it. The Panthers went just 2-for-4 from the line the final 40 seconds but the outcome was never in doubt, with a meaningless three at the buzzer accounting for the final score looking closer than it actually was.
 
The Panthers were in control for most of the start and then had Bol to thank for building an advantage back at intermission after the Mastodons had made a dent.
 
Freeman gave MKE its first lead on a three at 7-6 and then had a steal and dunk to continue a scoring run that hit 11-0. A layup from Jalen Johnson put the team ahead 15-6 at the 11:11 mark to cap the spree.
 
The Dons hit some big shots to get the lead down to two at 21-19. A big slam from Browning helped stem the tide and then Bol stepped up. He established that new career-high with all seven points in just 3:33 of time on the court, making all three of his field-goal attempts (including a free throw after a foul on one of them) – adding two rebounds and a block as well – to spur Milwaukee to a 36-29 advantage at the break.
 
Milwaukee finished the day at 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the floor, sinking 78.6 percent (11-of-14) of its free throws. The defense held the Dons to 38.7 percent (24-of-62) overall and turned them over 12 times. The Panthers claimed advantages of 42-22 in the paint and 33-8 off the bench.
 
Up next, the Panthers return home for the first time in over a month, set to host Northern Kentucky January 12. Tip time against the Norse is set for 7 p.m.