HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Themus Fulks led four players in double-figures with 17 points but it was Southern Miss that scored the final five points of the afternoon to escape with a 66-65 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.
The Panthers (5-4) led for the large majority of the contest only to see the Golden Eagles (3-4) score the go-ahead layup with just 3.6 seconds remaining. The team raced down the court for a final attempt at the buzzer but was unable to find the winner.
Fulks finished with his team-high 17 on a great day from the floor, making 8-of-11 shots overall. It was part of a solid day for the MKE offense, which finished at 50.0 percent (27-of-54) from the field overall.
Kentrell Pullian added 13 points and seven rebounds, making 5-of-7 from the field.
AJ McKee and
Jamichael Stillwell each chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
"I thought we executed fine on that last set," head coach
Bart Lundy said about the closing minute. "We didn't make that [basket] but got to set our defense. They got all the way to the rim, but we had talked in the (prior) timeout that if they scored at any time to take the lead, we were going to run it back at them and listen to me to call timeout. We just didn't do enough to win. It's my fault … we have to manage those late-game situations better and we have to make winning plays – and the last two games we haven't done that. We have to pick ourselves up and try to figure this out."
Denijay Harris led Southern Miss with a career and game-high 24 points, adding eight rebounds. Neftali Alvarez finished just 3-of-10 from the floor for eight points, but came through in the end with the winning layup that improved the Golden Eagles to 29-3 the past two-plus seasons on their home court.
The late surge spoiled a solid effort by the Panthers, who led for 35-plus minutes on the day and looked to be in position to pick up a solid road victory.
Up a point at the break, seven in a row capped by a Fulks jumper gave MKE the 41-33 advantage and forced a timeout by the home team. It was seven again on Stillwell's 3-point play at 44-37 before Southern Miss responded.
A 15-8 run made it a new game on a three at 52-all, but McKee responded for the visitors and pushed Milwaukee ahead, 58-54, with just over five minutes to play. The Panthers still led 65-61 on a Stillwell free throw with 1:42 to play before USM scored the final five points of regulation.
The Panthers were in control at the start, using a 10-0 run to jump ahead 16-5 and again it was at 11 at 18-7. Back and forth from there,
John Lovelace Jr. made a nice finish at the rim to give his team the slim 32-31 edge at intermission.
The defense held Southern Miss to under 40 percent (.397/23-58) on the day, the team built a substantial 48-22 margin in the paint, and again won the rebounding battle at 38-30. But 17 turnovers hurt, as did the free throw misses, able to convert just 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from the free throw line.
Up next, Milwaukee is back at home to open Horizon League play Thursday, welcoming Cleveland State downtown for a contest set to tipoff at 7 p.m.
