#HLMBB Captures Three Neutral Site Wins

Men's Basketball Scoreboard
Detroit 69, Maryland Eastern Shore 55
Green Bay 66, East Carolina 49
Milwaukee 56, Louisiana 52
Western Carolina 88, Oakland 79 (2OT)

Detroit 69, Maryland Eastern Shore 55
The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team used a 25-8 run in the final 10 minutes of action to win the first sub-regional game of the Progressive Legends Classic 69-55 over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday at Savage Arena.

Detroit (3-2) trailed 47-44 with 10:04 remaining in regulation, before Horizon League Freshman of the Week Paris Bass took over scoring seven of the next 10 points to give the Titans a 54-48 lead. A lead they wouldn't relinquish.

With the win the Titans moved on to play in the sub-regional championship game against Toledo, which beat Bucknell 92-65 in the nightcap. The game will be played tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 25) at Savage Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Bass finished with 11 points – all in the last 10 minutes of the game – including a thunderous dunk over everyone to put the Titans up by 10. Altogether Bass finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist and one blocked shot in 10 minutes.

Junior guard Anton Wilson led Detroit with a team-high 14 points, while senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. pitched in 12 and his classmate Brandan Kearney added 11. Sophomore guard Matthew Grant added eight points to go along with four steals, while junior guard Carlton Brundidge added seven points with three steals.

Both teams swapped baskets to start the game as the score was tied 9-9 during the first media timeout. UMES (1-5) then started to piece together a little run to build an 18-13 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half. The Titans would answer back with a 5-0 – including a three-point play the old fashion way  from Howard to tie the score at 18 with 8:08 left. The Hawks would use a 6-3 run to build a 24-21 lead with four minutes remaining before a 6-0 run from the Titans, capped off by a jumper from Kearney gave Detroit a 27-24 lead with 2:01 remaining. But UMES would close the half with a 5-0 run to take a 29-27 lead into the locker room. Howard led Detroit with eight points in the first half, while Grant and Kearney had six points, respectively.

UMES shot 50 percent (12-fo-24) overall in the first half, while Detroit only connected on 30.8 percent (8-of-26) of its shots. The Hawks also dominated on the boards 22-13, to become the first team this season to hold a lead over the Titans during intermission.

The second half started out similar to the first as both teams exchanged baskets, before UMES built its largest lead of the game 39-33 with 15:23 remaining. The Hawks would maintain the lead as they were up 45-41 heading into the under-12 minute media timeout. Following the timeout is when Detroit started to chip away at the deficit. Five-straight points from Bass would give Detroit a slim 49-48 lead with 8:35 remaining, before a three-pointer from Wilson seemed to open the flood gates. Following the trifecta from Wilson the Titans would close the game with a 17-7 run including a little dunk fest from Bass, Kearney and Grant in the closing minutes.

Detroit shot 50 percent (13-of-26) in the second stanza, while holding UMES to just 30.8 percent (8-of-26). Detroit also won the battle on the boards in the second stage 21-14. Overall both teams shot 40 percent, but Detroit's defensive pressure forced 20 Hawks turnovers that resulted in 29 points.

Green Bay 66, East Carolina 49
Holding East Carolina (2-2) without a point for the opening 7:48, Green Bay (2-1) jumped out to an early lead and posted a wire-to-wire 66-49 victory on Monday afternoon in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena. Senior Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-high 15 points and senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) added 12 to lead the Phoenix.

The Phoenix scored the game’s first seven points, and after an ECU three-pointer, went on a 10-0 run to lead 17-3 with 9:25 to play before halftime.

Mays had eight points at halftime as Green Bay shot 53.8 percent and held the Pirates to only 27.6 percent from the floor. The Phoenix also had a 25-12 rebounding edge at intermission.

Green Bay scored 10 of the first 12 points after halftime to extend its lead to 21 (46-25) with 16:29 to play. The Pirates could get no closer than 12 the rest of the afternoon as the Phoenix advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST against the winner of Fresno State-Evansville.

The rebounding and defense was strong throughout the contest for the Phoenix, outrebounding the Pirates 37-23 and holding the opposition to just 31.9 percent from the field. Junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) finished with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

With Mays finishing 6-of-9 from the field and Sykes making half of his 10 shots, the Phoenix shot 55.3 percent from the field. Senior Alfonzo McKinnie (Chicago, Ill.) paced the Green Bay reserves with nine points.

Milwaukee 56, Louisiana 52
Steve McWhorter posted his first career double-double, going for 18 points and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds, to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-3) to a 56-52 victory over Louisiana (1-3) tonight at the MGM Grand Main Event. The Panthers held the Ragin' Cajuns to 33 percent shooting on the night, forced 16 turnovers, and were able to overcome a rough second half of their own in which they hit just 32 percent of their shots.

Both teams struggled out of the gate, but Milwaukee used a 13-2 run to open up a 15-7 lead in first half. Buoyed by the play of McWhorter, who scored 11 of the team's 24 first-half points, the Panthers defense stifled the Ragin' Cajuns in the opening stanza, limiting them to just 6 of 26 shooting, while forcing nine turnovers.

Trinson White's jumper from the left baseline gave the Panthers a 21-10 lead with 4:27 remaining, their largest advantage of the half, and UWM took a 24-14 lead into the locker room at the break.

McWhorter hit a pair of free throws to open the second-half scoring as the Panthers extended their lead to 26-14, but over the next 11 and a half minutes, the Ragin' Cajuns outscored Milwaukee, 30-12, to take a 44-38 lead with 7:08 remaining.

Undeterred, the Panthers immediately responded with a 9-1 surge of their own that was capped by a J.J. Panoske layup that gave them a 47-45 advantage.

A layup by Bryce Washington with 1:24 left to go put Louisiana on top, 51-50, and on the next possession McWhorter had a chance to put the Panthers ahead after getting fouled with 57 seconds on the clock. The normally automatic senior missed both tosses, but after Louisiana corralled the rebound, McWhorter came up with a big steal and found Matt Tiby for an easy layup with 43 seconds remaining to give Milwaukee a 52-51 lead it would never surrender.

"I had to move on to the next play. I've got to make those free throws, but I knew I had to make the next play to help the team win," McWhorter said. "This was a huge win for us. We've lost a couple of close games that we feel we could have gotten and this is a win that can give us some momentum going forward."

The Panthers iced the game by going 4-for-4 from the foul line with Justin Jordan and Tiby each draining a pair of free throws in the final 13 seconds.

In addition to his 18 points, which is one short of his career high, and 10 boards, McWhorter also pitched in four assists and four steals. Tiby contributed eight points, eight boards and three blocks and White had his best game as a Panther, coming off the bench to produce nine points and five rebounds.

Brian Williams and Xavian Rimmer scored 12 points each for Louisiana.

Western Carolina 88, Oakland 79 (2OT)
Kahlil Felder finished with 26 points, four steals and seven boards but Oakland fell 88-79 to Western Carolina in double overtime on Monday night.

James Sinclair slammed home a dunk with 23 seconds remaining in double overtime to secure the win for the Catamounts.

Sinclair, who finished with 20 points, made two free throws with 4:37 left in the second overtime to give the Catamounts a 76-74 lead. Oakland could not answer.

Rhett Harrelson made a 3-point jumper to give Western Carolina a 64-60 lead with 34 seconds left in regulation.

Max Hooper split a pair of free throws and Corey Petros made a three-point play to tie at 64 to send the game into overtime. Hooper made a free throw, then Felder stole the ball, drove to the arc, pulled up and hit a 3-point jumper with 15 second remaining to send the game into the second overtime.

Harrelson also had 20 points for Western Carolina (2-2). Corey Petros had 14 points for Oakland (0-4).