MILWAUKEE – Aaron Franklin posted a double-double, Stevie Elam scored a game-high 19 points, and the Milwaukee men's basketball team finished off Youngstown State with a second-half scoring run to help claim a 78-65 victory Wednesday evening at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"Just really happy for all the seniors, but especially Aaron and Faizon who got to play at least some tonight, and Amar, to go out on a win," head coach Bart Lundy said. "It'll be our last game here at UWM Panther Arena this year, and the last of their careers, and really happy that we end up with everything that's happened with an 8-6 home record. We ended up securing a winning record at home, at least, and got a lot of contributions from a lot of people."
 
The Panthers (12-19, 8-12 Horizon League) built a lead to as many as a dozen before the Penguins (15-15, 8-11 Horizon League) battled back to make it a one-possession game at 59-56 at the 6:50 mark. The MKE offense took over from there, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to help put the game away on "Senior Night" for the program.
 
"Youngstown, give them credit," Lundy said. "They won six of their last nine, and it came in hot, and I thought we did a really good job defensively, just contesting things, making it hard on them, and just proud of our guys. They're a resilient group."
 
Franklin, one of six seniors honored pregame, came up big, recording his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He finished an efficient 6-of-7 from the floor and added a pair of assists.
 
"I'm not much of a person that pays attention to my stats, but it was more important to go out as a senior with a win on our home floor, with our home crowd, and with guys that have been here for our struggle this whole season," Franklin said at the postgame press conference. "So, to go into the postseason with momentum, that was where my mindset was."
 
Elam went 4-of-8 from downtown to power his 19 points, adding eight rebounds, three assists, and a season-high four steals.
 
Chandler Jackson finished with 14 points, including a big 3-point play to cap that 11-2 run that gave Milwaukee control of the contest with the scoreboard reading 70-58 with 3:44 to go, with the lead staying in double-figures the rest of the way.
 
Esyah Pippa-White was also in double-figures, adding 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
YSU was led by Chris Carroll with 13 points, with Rich Rolf contributing a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards. The MKE defense held the visitors 15 points below their season scoring average (79.8 ppg) on the night.
 
Milwaukee got off to a great start, scoring the first eight points of the night in building advantages of 13-4 and 23-11. But, in the blink of an eye, it was a game quickly, as the Penguins ran off a 10-0 spurt to pull within two at 23-21. The Panthers righted the ship and grabbed a 39-35 lead at intermission.
 
The second half started off with a Pippa-White dunk just seconds in but was back to even at 41-41 at the 17:06 mark. A 9-1 MKE spree forced a YSU timeout at 50-42 and the lead grew to 56-42 with 10:50 to play on a Franklin fastbreak layup.
 
The visitors didn't cave, responding with 12 of the next 15 points to reach that 59-56 scoreline. From there it was all Panthers. Elam hit a three, Jackson made a layup and free throw and, after a Jackson three and another from Elam, the game was put away at 73-58.
 
On the night, the Panthers would end up at 50.9 percent (29-of-57) overall, making 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from deep and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the line. The 'Guins concluded the contest at 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor overall, hitting 25.8 percent (8-of-31) from deep, and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from the line. Milwaukee grabbed the rebound edge at 32-30, and outscored YSU in fastbreak points, 26-19.
 
The Panthers are the only team in the Horizon League done with their regular season this evening, the remainder of the teams will wrap up play Saturday. With a win tonight and a loss by Cleveland State, Milwaukee assured itself it will avoid the play-in game Monday but can still end up the No. 8 or No. 9 seed after play concludes. Matchup for the first round will be posted to the website as soon as it is available.
 
"I was thinking how different this team is than the team that somebody that saw a game at the beginning of the year," Lundy said. "Hardly any of these guys were on the floor, but proud of them. It's a new season for us. Going to end up with the 8 or 9 seed. But we avoided the 10-11, and having to play five games to win it all. Having to play IU Indy will wear you out on Monday. So, the win in seeding terms was huge for us."