Panthers collapse late in first half, lose to Ft. Wayne

Despite outrebounding the Dons 46-32, your Milwaukee Panthers couldn't pull off the victory Wednesday night in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

The Mastadons were not intimidated by our power and speed; they had their own power and speed

The game started out with Milwaukee's offense playing out of control and stayed that way for the entire first half. The Panthers committed 15 turnovers, but it easily could have been 25. The first half was filled with coughed up possessions that turned into PFW points.

The key point in this game was the closing minutes of the first half when Milwaukee gave up a 10-0 run turning a 2 point lead into an 8 point deficit. The Mastadons began the second half by opening up this lead to 13 before Milwaukee began to whittle that lead away and make a valiant attempt at a come back victory that wasn't in the cards.

And so Milwaukee (11-5, 4-2) went down, down to defeat, 78-73.

Jamichael Stillwell (15pts, 11reb, 3stl) and Kentrell Pullian (16pts, 12reb) both racked up double doubles while Themus Fulks led all scorers with 18 (but just 2 assists and 6 turnovers). The Mastadons were led by Allen David Mukeba Jr.'s 15 points.

Some blame the refs on last night's loss, but it was not a great performance by Milwaukee

The Panthers had another muted shooting performance (38.6% FG, 30% 3PT, 68% FT) and just couldn't get the stops (and shots) needed to take down the Dons. This team's shooting will have to improve (esp. McKee- who after beginning the season on a rampage has gone quiet as of late) if they want to win the conference championship.

We aren't too bad. But a barometer game like this proves that we aren't yet at the level required to make a run in March. Maybe the upcoming homestand will restore our shooting confidence and fuel a winter fire. 

go panthers.

tilt the floor. 🏆🏀