MILWAUKEE – BJ Freeman scored a season-high 38 points – including his 1,000^th point in Black & Gold – to lead the way as the Milwaukee men's basketball team used a huge scoring spree in the second half to flip the game around in claiming a 96-88 victory Sunday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Obviously, BJ had a huge game – proud of him for his 1,000^th point and this league has made every one of those hard," head coach Bart Lundy said. "A great team win. The overtime game (vs. YSU Friday) was tough on him (Freeman), was tough on our team and I wasn't sure what we were going to get. And that was a very focused and determined BJ Freeman who put up those points."
 
The Panthers (15-14, 10-8 Horizon League) put together a pair of key second-half runs by the offense to get past the Mastodons (18-11, 9-9 Horizon League), overcoming what was a 10-point deficit with about 13 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
"Purdue Fort Wayne came out in the second half and threw haymakers and until about the eight-minute mark, was shooting 81 percent from the floor in the second half," Lundy said. "But we got a lot of stops at the end."
 
Freeman was special, scoring 23 of his 38 points in the second half while adding four rebounds and four assists. He finished 15-of-24 from the field, tying the school record for most made field goals in a game last accomplished over 20 years ago. Freeman hit 5-of-11 from deep, including one from the left wing at the 4:25 mark that gave him exactly 1,000 points as a Panther, becoming the 30^th player in program history to accomplish the feat.
 
His 38 points ties for the ninth-most scored in a game in program history.
 
"We've won a lot of games. A lot of that has been BJ's play," Lundy said about Freeman's milestone. "We are in a good place as a team and when he is focused and engaged the way he was tonight we are really hard to beat."
 
"I don't really care," Freeman said of the milestone in the postgame press conference. "I am just trying to bring a ring to this city. That's what we are all trying to do … if that means four points, I just want to win."
 
Erik Pratt added 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Dominic Ham and Elijah Jamison each finished with 10. For Ham, the 10-point effort marked a career-high, also tying his MKE-best with five rebounds while adding three assists (0 TO) and going 2-of-3 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
 
"We got a lot of really good contributions from a lot of guys," Lundy said. "Dominic Ham – his biggest game of the year. Erik Pratt, he didn't have unbelievable stats, but I thought it was the most defensive-winning plays he made all year. I could go on down and down (the scoresheet)."
 
Rasheed Bello led the way for the 'Dons with 21. Purdue Fort Wayne had entered the day ranked No. 9 in the NCAA in turnovers forced at 16.8 per game yet could only force just eight turnovers on the day against Milwaukee.
 
A back-and-forth first half featured seven ties and 10 lead changes and saw the Panthers clinging to a one-point lead at 40-39 at the break. That was short-lived, however, as the Mastodons opened the second half on fire, scoring nine of the first 11 points to force an MKE timeout with the scoreboard reading 49-42.
 
Momentum stayed in the visitors' favor for a stretch, eventually leading by 10 on a trio of occasions, the final time at 64-54 with 13:18 to play.
 
That was when the contest turned. A 10-0 blitz by Milwaukee made it a new game at 64-all, with a Freeman layup, Pratt triple, pair of Freeman free throws and a three-pointer from Aaron Franklin knotting the scoreboard in just 92 seconds of game time.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne dug in and fought back, eventually taking a 71-66 advantage after scoring seven of the next nine points. A three-point play from Learic Davis stopped the run and started a stretch of the afternoon that would see Milwaukee record a 25-9 scoring run that eventually saw them lead by 11 at 91-80 on a three-pointer from the corner by Ham at the 3:10 mark. The Mastodons would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
 
The MKE offense connected on nearly 70 percent (.692) of its shots in the second half to finish at 55.4 percent (31-of-56) overall on the day, including sinking half (13-of-26) of its shots from three-point range. Purdue Fort Wayne finished at 47.5 percent (29-of-61), with the home side concluding with the 34-31 rebounding lead and 36-34 edge in points in the paint.
 
Up next, Milwaukee plays its final road contest of the regular season, traveling to Indianapolis Wednesday to take on IUPUI. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. CT.