MILWAUKEE – Angelo Stuart hit the game-winning three-point shot with just 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation to send the Milwaukee men's basketball team to a thrilling 73-72 victory over Northern Kentucky Saturday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"It was a great college basketball game," head coach Bart Lundy said. "Northern Kentucky is really good and Coach Horn is a great coach. I thought looking at all of these home games left – we have some tough ones – but I thought this was the toughest for us in the way they play."
 
The Panthers (14-13, 9-7 Horizon League) connected on the 19^th lead change of the night to get past the Norse (14-13, 9-7 Horizon League) in the closing seconds, sending the MKE fans home happy while picking up a crucial victory in the standings as the regular season comes down the stretch.
 
"I thought it was a complete team effort," Lundy said. "Second half, I thought the guys made a conscious effort to drive the ball more than we did and we evened up those points in the paint."
 
Kentrell Pullian came up with the defensive plays of the night to set the stage for the heroics, blocking not one, but two shots in the final minute to help set up the possession that gave Milwaukee the win.
 
"I thought KP [Pullian] made a couple of huge defensive plays," Lundy said. "They had that breakaway and KP ran him down and made the strip from behind and then made the play on Warrick on the out-of-bounds play."
 
Down 72-70, the Panthers had a chance to tie but a turnover with 18 seconds left looked like the opportunity for the Norse to seal the win on a breakaway. But Pullian sprinted down Trey Robinson from behind and blocked the ball out of bounds. On the ensuing throw-in, Pullian blocked another attempt and the Panthers had their final chance to pull out a victory.
 
And win they did, with BJ Freeman inbounding with 9.1 seconds remaining. He found Faizon Fields, who sent the final pass to Stuart on the left wing. Stuart pulled the quick trigger and hit nothing but net, and the defense held NKU from converting a final attempt.
 
"I have seen Angelo for two years in practice and games," Lundy said. "What you just saw is what he does when the game is on the line – he makes the shot. Proud of him … it was a good perseverance win."
 
"I knew if I caught the ball clean, it had a good chance of going in," Stuart said. "As soon as I released it and saw it hang in the air I said, 'this has a really good chance' and it hit nothing but net. It felt really good coming out of my hands."
 
Freeman played a big role on the evening, finishing with a game-high 26 points and his fourth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds, while adding five assists.
 
Stuart had six points overall, none bigger than in the closing seconds.
 
Erik Pratt finished with 13 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Pullian finished with nine points and three blocks while Langston Wilson recorded seven points, a pair of blocks, and corralled 11 rebounds.
 
Marques Warrick led the visitors with 20 points.
 
Back and forth all night, the Norse were trying to pull away and separate and eventually took a 60-55 lead. From there, Freeman helped the MKE offense grab back momentum. Following a dunk from Wilson, Freeman converted a three-point play to draw level at 60-60 and then buried a three on the next possession to cap an 8-0 run.
 
It was tied again at 65-all on a Freeman dunk in transition but the visitors regained a bit of footing and built the lead back to five at 71-66 with 2:25 to play.
 
Freeman then hit a layup, Pratt sank a jumper, and a split of a pair of NKU free throws pushed the scoreboard to 72-70 before Stuart came through at the end.
 
The defense held NKU to 43.9 percent (29-of-66) overall and Milwaukee picked up the huge win despite shooting 41.3 percent (26-of-63) itself. The team did hit a dozen 3's and won the battle of the boards, 43-38.
 
Up next, the Panthers stay at home, set to welcome Youngstown State to UWM Panther Arena Friday. Game time against the Penguins is set for 7 p.m.