Men's Basketball Final Shot: Jan. 25 - A Grand Night for Green Bay

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard  (Jan. 25)
Green Bay 74, Milwaukee 54

Tied at 41, with a sold-out Klotsche Center at a fever pitch and looking for its first road win of the year, Green Bay looked to its big man, Alec Brown. And Brown delivered with a career-high 23 points in leading the Phoenix to a 74-54 win over host Milwaukee in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.

In the process, Brown became the 25^th member of Green Bay’s 1,000-point club, finishing the night with 1,004 points in his career. Brown is the 144th player in Horizon League history to reach the feat, joining Valparaiso's Ryan Broekhoff, Ray McCallum of Detroit, Loyola's Ben Averkamp and Youngstown State's Kendrick Perry as active members of the club.

Brown scored his 1,000th career point with 5:04 left on a thunderous dunk off a feed Keifer Sykes. The 7-foot-1 All-Horizon League big man scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as Green Bay turned a one-point halftime lead into a 20-point win. Brown went 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, adding eight rebounds and three blocked shots in 35 minutes.

Green Bay (11-10, 5-3 Horizon) led by as many as eight in the opening half but went into halftime clinging to a 28-27 lead. The second 20 minutes was back and forth early, and a layup from Paris Gulley gave Milwaukee (5-16, 1-6 Horizon) its first lead of the game, 37-36, with 15:29 to play.

The lead would be the only one of the night for the Panthers and last only 18 seconds, as a three-point play by Brennan Cougill put the Phoenix right back in front.

The game was tied at 41-41 with 14 minutes to play when Green Bay team took control. Sykes scored seven points and Cole Stefan drained a three-pointer as part of a 18-2 run that Brown capped with a three-pointer of his own to make it 59-43 with 8:22 to play.

Milwaukee, who was held to just 37.7 percent shooting overall and went 3-for-20 from long range, could not get closer than 12 points the rest of the night.

Sykes, who will likely join Brown as a 1,000-point scorer, controlled the second half, scoring 13 of his 16 points after halftime as he and Brown outscored Milwaukee 28-27 after intermission. Sykes also added five assists as the visitors had 14 assists and just eight turnovers.

Brown (6), Cougill (5) and Jordan Fouse combined for 15 of Green Bay’s 19 offensive rebounds as the Phoenix scored 24 second chance points. Cougill had 12 points and six rebounds, reaching double figures off the bench for the fourth-straight game and sixth time in eight Horizon League games. Fouse was limited to just 21 minutes but finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Green Bay outscored the Panthers 17-4 off turnovers, 24-10 in second chance points and 21-0 off the bench. The Phoenix shot 43.8 percent for the game and used a 42-35 rebounding edge to attempt 11 more shots.

Jordan Aaron led Milwaukee with 20 points, going 8-of-17 from the floor and playing nearly every second of the game. Gulley added 10, but was harassed into 4-of-12 shooting. Demetrius Harris finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 12 points and eight boards, while freshman J.J. Panoske has eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Panthers.