MILWAUKEE – Kentrell Pullian scored a season-high 24 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team scored the final 10 points of the night in picking up a 79-67 victory over Cleveland State Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena in the conference opener for both teams.
 
The Panthers (6-4, 1-0 Horizon League) took control down the stretch against the Vikings (4-6, 0-1 Horizon League) to remain unbeaten at home this season at a perfect 5-0. Pullian added 10 rebounds for the third double-double of his career, while Jamichael Stillwell posted his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-best 15 rebounds.
 
"That's a really good win against an excellent program," head coach Bart Lundy said. "They take on the persona of their coach, so they're tough as nails, and you know, they made life difficult for us most of the night. I thought that 19 offensive rebounds and making our free throws saved us, it won the game for us."
 
Themus Fulks and AJ McKee joined them in double-figures, with Fulks contributing 16 points and five assists, while McKee finished with 13 of his own. Pullian's big night featured an 11-of-12 showing at the free throw line.
 
Milwaukee led much of the first half but held just a 36-35 advantage at intermission. Cleveland State packed the first punch of the second half, scoring the first three baskets of the period to take its biggest lead at 41-36.
 
From there it was the Panthers turn, using a 13-2 blitz of its own to jump back ahead 49-43 and never trail again. The visitors made it interesting late, climbing back to with a bucket at 69-67 with 2:38 to play on seven straight. From there it was all Milwaukee, with Darius Duffy putting the exclamation on the victory with a fastbreak dunk on one end and an emphatic block on the other as the team closed the contest on that 10-0 run.
 
Rebounding and free throws were key, as MKE was at it again on the boards with a hefty 41-24 advantage. Free throws – a pesky stat the past few games – were huge as the team set season-highs in makes and attempts when it connected on 28-of-37 (.757) from the charity stripe on the evening.
 
"We made the plays down the stretch," Lundy said. "These guys have been in the gym really trying to be a better free-throw shooting team and that showed up tonight … just a good, good team win."
 
Back-and-forth early, the MKE offense made the first push and led, 15-8, on a layup by McKee. The contest was tied in the blink of an eye at 17-17, and after some more trading of buckets, the Panthers used a push to grab the 35-28 advantage on a three-point play from Pullian with 3:33 remaining in the first.
 
Down 41-36 early in the second, the Panthers got contributions from everyone in scoring 13 of the next 15 points, with a dunk from John Lovelace Jr. capping the run and igniting the crowd with the 49-43 lead.
 
For the game, the Panthers connected on 52 percent of their field goals in the second half to finish at 44.2 percent (23-of-52) for the evening. CSU was red-hot in the first half at 56 percent in finishing at 47.4 percent (27-of-57) overall.
 
The visitors were led by Tevin Smith with 17 points, as four players were in double-figures on the night.
 
Up next, the Panthers are off for the weekend, returning to action midweek at Green Bay. The game on Wednesday is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.
 
NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, the postgame press conference is unavailable at this time. We aplogize for the inconvenience.