YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Themus Fulks led the way with a double-double of 21 points and 10 assists and the Milwaukee men's basketball team used a big scoring run early in the second half to break open the game against Youngstown State before settling in for an 84-74 victory.
The Panthers (19-9, 12-5 Horizon League) also got 20 points from
AJ McKee to defeat the Penguins (18-11, 12-6 Horizon League) in front of a national television audience on ESPNU Friday night from the Beeghly Center.
"It was fun but very, very challenging night," head coach
Bart Lundy said. "It was a packed house and it feels like they are on top of you. A lot of boisterous fans for a national TV game and it was a gut-check for our guys. It was a one-point game and we went on a huge run. We knew they would come back and we made enough plays to hold on."
Milwaukee used a substantial 24-6 run early in the second half to break open what was a close game, flipping a 52-51 deficit into a 75-58 lead with 6:28 to play in the contest.
YSU would not go quietly, using 11 consecutive points of its own to get as close as five at 77-72 with 1:42 to go, but the Panthers would convert 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to pick up the huge road victory, one that brings them within one game of first-place Cleveland State with three contests left on the regular season schedule.
"We kept talking about staying calm, use the clock, run something good, and don't turn it over," Lundy said. "We went 7-of-8 and Jamichael got the rebound on the one that we missed. I hope that is who we are down the stretch here. I think we have a championship mentality as a team and as a group of individuals. They understand how to win and that should bode well moving forward."
Fulks finished with his third double-double of the season, all of them coming in the past five games. He added three rebounds and went 9-of-10 from the line.
McKee finished with his second-highest point total of the season, going 6-of-8 from the floor which included a perfect 4-of-4 showing from downtown. He was huge at the start of the night, scoring 14 of MKE's first 24 points of the contest while not missing a shot of any kind in the first half.
"That's what you get from AJ at the end of the season," Lundy said. "He understands the gravity of the game and plays his best at the end of the year. That's what he has always done his entire career. He came out with a focus that this was a championship-type game and that's how he performed – really proud of him."
Kentrell Pullian joined them in double-figures with 11 points, while
Jamichael Stillwell recorded a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Aaron Franklin (8 points/2 rebounds) and
Faizon Fields (8 points/3 boards) rounded out the leading scorers for the visitors.
Juwan Maxey scored a career-high 29 points to lead the YSU offense.
Down 52-51, a Stillwell putback ignited the charge. The next 11 points were all MKE, with Fulks accounting for seven points in the spurt including a three-point play that made it 10 for the first time at 62-52.
Pullian capped the 24-6 run to build the lead to 17. YSU trimmed the margin to five in the final two minutes, but Fulks would make 4-of-4, McKee 1-of-2, and Stillwell 2-of-2, adding an offensive rebound on McKee's only miss in that stretch.
McKee led an early charge, scoring eight in a 13-7 start before the Penguins would respond with a momentum turn that included 14 points in a row and a lead of as many as eight (23-15) before MKE righted the ship.
The Panthers finished the night at 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the floor overall, making 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from deep, and an impressive 84.0 percent (21-of-25) from the line. Milwaukee owned the rebounding battle, 35-22, and scored 17 fastbreak points.
YSU concluded the evening at 49.0 percent (25-of-51), 36.0 percent (9-of-25) from downtown, and 75.0 percent (15-of-20) from the line.
Up next, the crucial road trip continues as the Panthers head to battle the second-place team in the Horizon League at Robert Morris Sunday. Game time against the Colonials is 1 p.m. CT.
