MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team led for much of the afternoon but fell to Oakland in double-overtime, 91-87, despite 27 points from Kentrell Pullian and a career performance from Faizon Fields, who recorded 21 points and 16 rebounds.
 
The Panthers (10-11, 5-5 Horizon League) had a chance to win on the final possession in regulation and owned a late lead in overtime until a deep three from the Golden Grizzlies (13-9, 8-3 Horizon League) extended the contest into another extra session.
 
"That was a lot of basketball, so forgive me if I am not processing all of it right now," head coach Bart Lundy said at the open of the postgame press conference. "Give Oakland a lot of credit – they stuck in there and their shooters made huge 3's. I don't know that I would change much about our game plan going in – they hit more 3's than we thought they would, including some really deep ones."
 
The visitors built a four-point edge in double-OT and then made all four of their free throws in the final 31 seconds of the night to secure the victory.
 
"But, a lot of respect for Coach Kampe, a lot of respect for Oakland and how they go about things," Lundy said. "That is a very good team that deserves a lot of credit because this was a tough win for them and a pretty heartbreaking loss for us."
 
Pullian came up one point shy of his career-best, scoring the team-high 27 points on an incredible shooting night by going 10-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range. The 76.9 FG percentage ties for sixth-best in a game in school history, while the 100% on five 3's was just one off the school mark of 6-for-6 in a game.
 
Fields put together the best effort of his collegiate career, eclipsing his former high-water marks of 17 points and 12 rebounds with his 21/16 effort. The 16 boards included 10 on the offensive glass and were within striking distance of the school record of 18. He went 9-of-11 from the line and blocked a season-best three shots.
 
"Really proud of Faizon. He came out and was awesome in the second half and overtime," Lundy said. "KP, I thought was fantastic. There were times when we were teetering when he just went and made a play. I thought he was an absolute star."
 
Erik Pratt added 16 points, while Langston Wilson was also in double-figures with 13 points, grabbing four rebounds.
 
Pewaukee, Wis., native Jack Gohlke led OU with a career-high 27 points, going 8-of-18 from three-point range as the Grizz made 15 3's on 41 attempts – the second-most attempts against MKE in a game in school history.
 
Trey Townsend added a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, helping Oakland become the first Horizon League school to win a game in the state of Wisconsin this season.
 
Down 10-2 early, the MKE offense rode a huge 19-2 scoring run to forge ahead next, getting to 21-12 to cap the run on a Pullian 3 in eventually building a lead of as many as 11 at 30-19 and again at 37-26 with 4:15 to go in the first half.
 
That was when the Golden Grizzlies would return the favor, scoring the final 12 of the half in jumpstarting a 19-2 run of their own and take a lead that first hit six at 45-39 and then at eight at 54-46. The Panthers responded with 14 of the next 20 points of the game to draw even at 60-60 on a Pratt corner three-ball.
 
Gohlke also hit a deep three to force the 68-68 deadlock that regulation ended in. In the first OT, Pullian buried a triple to give his side the 75-73 lead and a free throw from Wilson with 51.9 left had the edge at 76-73 and the crowd hopeful before Gohlke delivered again for the Grizz.
 
Overall, the defense showed up again, limiting Oakland to 37.8 percent (28-of-74) on the day, but couldn't do anything about the 90.9 percent (20-of-22) from the line. The Panthers finished at 41.1 percent (30-of-73) overall, connecting on 75.0 percent (18-of-24) from the charity stripe.
 
Up next, Milwaukee makes a quick road trip to open February, heading to Indiana for a single contest Thursday to take on Purdue Fort Wayne in a game set to start at 6 p.m.