It needed to be an all-around effort for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball team to beat in-state rival University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and it was just that.

Five players contributed with eight or more points for Milwaukee, who battled back from a 12 point deficit at the start of the second half to walk away with a 10 point win, 65-55.

It wasn’t as easy as it sounds for the Panthers (13-11, 8-6 Horizon), who were led by Deonte Roberts and his season-high 17 points, 13 in the second half.

Marcus Skinner, who laughed and said he’s not sore when asked how many times he hit the floor chasing the ball, also had a good night with a career-high 17 rebounds to go with his nine points and three blocks. Of his 17 boards, which is second highest all-time for a Panther, 10 of them came on offense, helping UWM score 27 second chance points.

“I know I’m an athletic player so I try to contribute because I know I’m a good rebounder, and athleticism and rebounding go together,” said Skinner. “All you have to have is the determination to get it.”

Green Bay (13-12, 7-8 Horizon) used a 12-0 run over 2:07 in the first half to make up a 10 point deficit and take the lead 21-19. Both teams traded baskets to end the first half but the Panthers took the halftime lead by one, 33-32.

Rahmon Fletcher had a team-high 15 points for the Phoenix while Terry Evans had six points, five rebounds and two blocks. Evans, who is only a junior, is now just two blocks away from being the Phoenix all-time blocks leader.

The Panthers started the second half cold, allowing Green Bay to take a 12 point lead on a 13-0 run that lasted the first six minutes of the half. Roberts opened up the half for Milwaukee with four points, but the Panthers still trailed by nine with 13:02 left.

Deion James helped the Panthers off the bench with 16 points while Ricky Franklin contributed with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

To counter the Phoenix run the Panthers came back with a 22-3 run of their own. Using the full-court press on defense, the Panthers held Green Bay to just three points over 10:10, resulting in a 55-50 lead with 3:48 left.

“They put on that press and it just kind of got to us,” said Phoenix forward Ryan Tillema. “We started getting out of our offense and lost our composure. We had some careless turnovers and we just didn’t finish the game strong and confident.”

Roberts extended the lead on the next play with a steal and the layup. That was followed by two pairs of free throws by Paige Paulsen and Skinner to keep the Panthers up, this time by nine with just under two minutes left.

“We just seemed to take a little bit to get going,” said Panther head coach Rob Jeter. “We had to put the full-court pressure on them. I don’t know why we started flat, I thought we started the game well and had a lull that seemed to carry over into that second half.”

The numbers are enough to prove why the Panthers won, despite coming off a three-game skid. In Panther victories, they have made almost as many free throws (224) as their opponents have taken (228) and are averaging nearly three rebounds per game more than their opponents. Milwaukee outrebounded the Phoenix by 14 and shot eight more free throws than Green Bay on Saturday night.

"I guess they wanted it more than us," Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk said.

The win puts the Panthers in sole position of fourth place in the Horizon League, while Green Bay keeps their ground in sixth place with just two weeks left in the regular season. UWM plays at Cleveland St. Wednesday before making their way to Bradley for their final road game of the regular season for the O’Reilly BracketBuster.

> Comments