MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team battled Indiana State shorthanded in dropping a 70-68 decision when a last-second attempt at a winner missed the mark Sunday afternoon at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (4-6) erased an early nine-point deficit and led the Sycamores (7-4) by as many as six in the second half, but were unable to close out what would have been an impressive victory, falling for the first time at home this season.
 
Already without projected starter John Lovelace Jr. for the first 10 games of the year with a season-ending injury, leading scorer Seth Hubbard was absent as well Sunday, out the remainder of the season due to an injury of his own.
 
Danilo Jovanovich and Faizon Fields led the MKE offense with 16 points apiece, with Stevie Elam joining them in double-figures with 13 points off the bench.
 
Jovanovich went 7-of-11 from the floor and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, adding three assists and three steals.
 
Fields did all of his work in the second half, scoring all 16 of his points after intermission while adding eight boards and a pair of steals. Included in his eight caroms was the 500^th rebound of his NCAA Division I career. He finished 5-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line.
 
Camp Wagner led Indiana State with 18 points, pacing the balanced offensive attack that saw four Sycamores reach double figures. Derek Vorst added 12 points.
 
"It's pretty cut-and-dry for me but give Indiana State a lot of credit," head coach Bart Lundy said. "For us, I look at the stat sheet and we got every margin that we wanted – we got 15 more shots, shot 19 free throws to their six, outrebounded them by two, only turned it over six times to their 15 … but our starting three guards went 3-for-25 (from the floor), with five assists and four of our turnovers. Without Seth (Hubbard), guys got opportunities and we really needed them to come in and perform. We need them to step up, and I think that they will."
 
Josh Dixon chipped in eight points and Sekou Konneh recorded four points, two steals, and seven rebounds in just 13 minutes.
 
"We did get some really good individual efforts," Lundy said. "Especially first half, stretches from our freshmen – Stevie, Josh, and Sekou were excellent – and I think we will continue to see them grow, especially with more opportunities. It's hard to see this one slip away, because that's a Missouri Valley team that came to our place and you want to get that one. I feel like we did let a very, very good opportunity slip away."
 
The visitors kept pressure on the home side throughout the contest and quickly erased what was a 39-36 MKE halftime advantage with a dunk and a three coming out of the locker room.
 
From there it was a back-and-forth battle, with the Panthers throwing the first punch with a 12-4 scoring run to forge ahead, eventually leading by as many as six at 51-45 with 13:25 to play.
 
A few minutes later the visitors responded, scoring seven unanswered to lead, 59-55, with 8:42 to go. The Panthers would draw even two more times the rest of the way, yet the Sycamores answered with just enough to extend their win streak to four games.
 
Milwaukee trimmed the deficit to a single possession in the closing minutes but could not find the go-ahead bucket in the final seconds.
 
The Panthers finished under 40 percent (35.8) from the floor but did make 15-of-19 from the line (78.9). They also had significantly more shot attempts (67-52), more free throw attempts (19-6), out-rebounded the opposition (36-34), and only turned the ball over a season-low six times – compared to 15 for Indiana State, yet came up two points short of a victory. The Sycamores wrapped up the day at 55.8 percent (29-of-52) from the floor overall, making eight three's.
 
Up next, the Panthers will get the opportunity to play at Fiserv Forum for the "Milwaukee Hoops Showdown" Friday. The team will play in game one of the event, battling South Dakota State at 4 p.m.