Many people will wonder how the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball team lost 72-67 to little-known Tennessee Tech Monday night at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.

However, if you look at the Golden Eagles a little closer, this may not have been as easy of a game as many expected.

Tennessee Tech has now won an astonishing 80 of its last 85 home games. The Golden Eagles also won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship last season.

Despite Boo Davis’s career high 25 points, the Panthers fell to 1-2 on their young season. Both losses have come in the state of Tennessee, with UWM’s first loss coming at Memphis.

Milone Clark lead the way for the Golden Eagles with 20 points. Belton Rivers added 15 and Anthony Fisher chipped in with 12 as the Golden Eagles improved to 3-1.

The Panthers made a valiant comeback attempt after being down 66-60 with 1:23 remaining.

A five-point flurry that included a free throw by Adrian Tigert, a basket by Davis and a tip of a missed Davis free throw by Tigert made it 66-65 with 59 seconds remaining.

Then the dagger came. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Fisher buried a long three from the right wing to put an end to the Panthers’ comeback attempt.

UWM recovered from an early 13-5 deficit and claimed a 24-20 lead from a Davis three with 5:37 remaining in the first half. However, the Golden Eagles took a 31-30 lead at halftime on a Fisher jumper just before the buzzer.

In the second half, the Golden Eagles took a 14-point lead with 15:36 remaining and never looked back.

Tigert added 17 points in the Panthers’ defeat.

“I give a lot of credit to my guys that fought through, that stayed aggressive, that made hard cuts,” said coach Rob Jeter. “Consequently, we got some positive results.”

The Panthers return to action Saturday night in their regular season home opener vs. St. Louis. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

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