HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team cut a 13-point deficit to just one in the final minute but was unable to get a shot off when down by three on its final possession, ultimately falling by a final score of 67-62 to Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon from Truist Arena.
 
The Panthers (9-17, 5-10 Horizon League) battled the Norse (15-11, 7-8 Horizon League) to the final horn, falling on the road despite outshooting their opponents from the floor, 45.3 percent to 40.8 percent, and leading for nearly 15 minutes of the opening half.
 
"Give them credit, they battled at the end," head coach Bart Lundy said of Northern Kentucky. "But we had chances where we could have folded and we had a group that was really good defensively. We held them to 40 percent on their home floor. Turnovers were even … so we are doing some good things, it just wasn't enough at the end. We didn't make enough plays late, and I didn't put them in good enough positions at the end for us to be able to come out on top."
 
Chandler Jackson led the way with 11 points, one of three MKE players to land in double-figures. Aaron Franklin finished with his fourth career double-double, scoring 10 points to go along with his game-high 10 rebounds. Josh Dixon also had 10, including a 3-pointer with 43.3 seconds remaining that pulled his team within one at 63-62.
 
"We all want to win, but almost more important at this moment is to fight with the ferocity that we did today," Lundy said. "And to play with character – and I thought we did both of those things today. We are starting to find a formula if we can keep everybody healthy. Obviously, Faizon (Fields) is a big addition back in the lineup and we will continue to get better and put together a formula that can make us a dangerous team by the end of the season."
 
Dan Gherezgher led NKU with 22 points, including a jumper following Dixon's three that gave the home team the 65-62 advantage. Donovan Oday, who came into the averaging over 20 points in league play, scored just 10 but came up with a big steal on Milwaukee's final possession and put the game away with two free throws on the other end with just seconds left in the contest.
 
The Panthers came out strong, leading 9-3 and 13-6 on a fastbreak layup from Jackson that forced a Norse timeout. The home team would battle back to lead 20-18, but back-to-back three's from Dixon and Jackson would surge the visitors back ahead, 26-20. NKU would then grab momentum, scoring 16 of the final 21 points to take a 36-31 lead at the break.
 
"I thought we hurt ourselves in the first half with foul trouble – putting them in the bonus early and letting them stay in the game from the free throw line when we had the lead," Lundy said. "And then second-chance points – most of their 3's were on second or third shots."
 
Milwaukee had the first punch of the second half, closing to 40-36 on an Elam 3 and 40-38 on a pair of Amar Augillard free throws. From there, the counterpunch was an 11-2 Norse run, building the biggest lead of the day at 54-41 with 11:59 remaining.
 
Down, but not out, it was all Milwaukee next, scoring 12 unanswered, capped by a Jackson layup to again draw within a point at 54-53.
 
NKU kept the Panthers just enough at bay – it was down to two again at 59-57 on a driving lay-in from Isaiah Dorceus and again down to one when Dixon hit the big three from the corner in the final minute. Milwaukee's last gasp came with 15 seconds left on the clock, but the ball was pinned on the sideline, and the defensive effort forced a turnover to prevent a possible shot at overtime.
 
Milwaukee finished the contest at 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the floor overall, compared to 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the Norse. Both teams were similar from downtown (.368 MKE/.357 NKU) and the Norse held just a 32-30 rebound edge. Both teams had just 11 turnovers, but the home team turned their opportunities into a 20-6 lead in points off those miscues.
 
Up next, the Panthers remain on the road and continue on to play at IU Indy. Game time against the Jaguars Tuesday is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.