INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team scored the final seven points of the night to claim an 84-80 victory over IU Indianapolis in overtime Wednesday night at The Jungle.
 
The Panthers (16-8, 9-4 Horizon League) also overcame a late deficit in regulation to force the extra session against the Jaguars (8-17, 4-10 Horizon League) before eventually claiming the victory to extend their winning streak in the all-time series to 10 consecutive games.
 
"I thought our backs were against the wall a couple of times and we made plays," head coach Bart Lundy said. "We fought our way through some adversity – some external, some internal – but we will take it. This is a very good team and this is a hard place to play."
 
Jamichael Stillwell and Erik Pratt led four players in double-figures with 17 points apiece, but the big plays late came from Themus Fulks and AJ McKee. Fulks scored four straight to put Milwaukee ahead in the closing minute of overtime and McKee came up with a blocked shot on IU Indy's late three-point attempt that could have tied the score in the closing seconds.
 
"He is a high-level defender and Zlinskas is the best shooter in the league and is going to be a professional somewhere in the world after he's done here," Lundy said when asked about McKee's block. "And AJ contested that as well as you can contest it and got a piece of it."
 
Stillwell finished with his 13^th double-double of the season, adding a game-high 14 rebounds to his 17-point night while also recording three steals.
 
Pratt came off the bench to score his 17 on a 7-of-13 shooting night, adding six rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Fulks finished with the fourth double-double of his career and first as a Panther, wrapping up the evening with 12 points and a season-high 11 assists, just one off his career-best.
 
Faizon Fields also came up big with 14 points and six rebounds, with his layup with 1:54 left in OT the start of the seven consecutive points by the visitors to flip the late deficit into the win, which was also the 14^th in the past 15 meetings against the Jags.
 
The home team was led by a game-high 25 points from Paul Zlinskas.
 
"It was an extremely physical game and I thought we were able to wear them down a little bit fatigue-wise and we had more numbers," Lundy said. "They also had two guys foul out, which helped us in overtime. "
 
The night featured 16 ties and 15 led changes, with IU Indy using a 9-2 surge to turn a 62-all deadlock into a 71-64 advantage at the final media timeout with 3:21 remaining.
 
The team came out of the timeout and flipped momentum quickly, starting the run with a pair of free throws from Danilo Jovanovich. Pratt split a pair of free throws and Stillwell grabbed an offensive rebound and putback to make it a one-possession game. Fields then dunked a rebound putback of his own on a fastbreak opportunity to knot the score at 71-71 with 1:39 remaining.
 
"I was proud of the guys for that run, we could have folded up our tent at that point in time, but we found a way to send it to overtime," Lundy said. "Resilience is the word to use for this one."
 
IU Indy went back ahead on two free throws but it was Fields once again, throwing down another dunk to draw even at 73-73. Each team had a chance to win on its final possession in regulation but each came up empty to send MKE to its first overtime game of the season.
 
The first half saw each team try and take control, with the Jaguars using a 15-3 run to lead by as many as 10 at 28-18. Just as fast the momentum turned, seeing the Panthers use a 13-2 spurt of their own to forge ahead. The team also got a pair of big three-pointers down the stretch from Esyah Pippa-White to hit the locker room at 41-41.
 
The MKE offense wrapped up the evening at 45.1 percent (32-of-71) from the floor, making four 3's (4-19/.211) and 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the line. IU Indy checked in at 43.1 percent (28-of-65) overall, 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from downtown, and 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the line.
 
The Panthers dominated the boards, 49-33, and outscored the Jaguars 54-40 in the paint, 40-11 from the bench, and 18-8 in fastbreak points.
 
Up next, the road trip commences with a visit to league-leading Cleveland State Saturday. Tip off time against the Vikings is set for 2 p.m. CT.