What a game.
This was not a particularly great shooting game for either team.
But on a more positive note, tonight we seemed to consciously be making that needed extra pass to find the most open space for shooters. And for some shots*, it worked brilliantly. But the numbers don't lie, tonight we had a lot of misses. Luckily, Cleveland State shot even worse. 👇
FG 3PT FT
37.0% 28.1% 55.6%
32.9% 22.2% 77.8%
Milwaukee went 3 and 1/2-minutes sans field goal to start the contest, and then became knotted up with the Vikings for several minutes, after which a picturesque Panther lay-in broke a 15-15 tie with ~8 minutes left.
The Panthers and Vikings battled back and forth going into break with CSU up by just three, 29-26. After the break, the Vikings went on a big run and were steadily up by 8 for a time. But then- an Ahmad Rand slam. An Ahmad Rand block at the other end. And finally, a Kentrell Pullian three- brought Milwaukee back from the precipice. It was game on, or game over (or both) after that.
Time ticked down, but our free throw disparity (we shot 9, Cleveland State shot 19) came back to bite us and some nit-picky fouls were converted into Viking points and put the home team up by 3 with seconds remaining.
Enter, BJ Freeman (24pts, 6reb). With just these 9 seconds left, a pass out to Freeman for three, and Freeman missed. But the ball then caromed directly to Justin Thomas who then, in a single motion, rebounded the ball and passed it back out to Freeman in the corner. BJ Freeman then carefully nailed the biggest shot of his young NCAA DI career. And this one would go to overtime.
In the extra time, both teams continued to trade the lead and play with every last bit of energy. But Milwaukee's conditioning(?) won out in the end, and this game would end in victory for the Panthers after some clutch free throws by Justin Thomas.
This win puts our win total in double digits in early January for the first time in a very long time. It also inches us that much closer to the #1/2 pole position seed we'll want for the HLT.
Next up, Milwaukee is on the road again, this time at Purdue Ft. Wayne on Saturday, 1/7 at 12pm CST. Let's keep on racking and stacking...
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