MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team dug out of a 17-point deficit to make it a two-possession game down the stretch but was unable to complete the comeback in falling to Oakland, 73-60, Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (8-11, 4-4 Horizon League) fell behind a quick start from the Golden Grizzlies (10-9, 6-2 Horizon League) and failed to claw all the way back with their depleted roster on the night – with four projected senior starters on the bench in street clothes due to injury.
 
"Give Oakland credit, they came in and really punched us," head coach Bart Lundy said. "We will solve all of this, and we will keep getting better."
 
Sekou Konneh led the way with his best outing of his freshman campaign – he set season-highs with 16 points and 11 rebounds to record his first collegiate double-double. He went 7-of-11 from the floor and added a pair of assists and a block.
 
All of the MKE freshmen produced solid outings: Josh Dixon had 11 points while Stevie Elam added a statline of 8 points/7 rebounds/3 steals in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.
 
"Our young guys got chances. You look at those three freshmen, and they are all positive (in +/- on the stat sheet) in heavy minutes," Lundy said. "And we got contributions from a lot of guys – Aaron Franklin was awesome with a double-double. Those guys have never seen this zone and never played Oakland before, and I thought they did fine. We are going to keep getting better, we are going to be positive … what matters in this league is four games in March. This group is going to continue to grow."
 
Aaron Franklin posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds – marking his third double-double in his past seven outings and second consecutive. Franklin added three steals and a pair of assists.
 
Michael Houge led the Grizzlies with 19 points – including a huge first-half effort of 17 of them which allowed OU to build an 11-point lead at the break.
 
Down 11-2 out of the gates, Milwaukee settled in after trailing, 24-11. An 8-0 run was capped by a Franklin layup to bring his team within five at 24-19. Oakland had a response and steadily built a 41-30 advantage at intermission.
 
Down a dozen at 53-41, six unanswered trimmed it to six. OU would answer again and again before a final charge from the MKE offense made it a two-possession game for a final time at 57-51 with 7:16 remaining. The visitors would benefit from free throws and a big three to regain their footing, taking control the rest of the way.
 
For the game, the Panthers finished at 34.3 percent (24-of-70) from the floor overall, with a tough night from deep (2-of-20) hindering the comeback effort. Oakland hit on 42.4 percent (25-of-59) overall, with the rebound battle even at 43-43.
 
Up next, the Panthers have wrapped up the homestand and head back on the road, traveling to play Purdue Fort Wayne Sunday. Game time against the Mastodons is set for 1 p.m. CT.