Milwaukee, Detroit Grab Weekend-Opening Wins

Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard - Thursday, Jan. 12
Milwaukee 58, Wright State 38
Detroit 80, Green Bay 73

Both Milwaukee and Detroit showed off their best attributes on Thursday, with the Panthers posting a season-best defensive effort in victory and the Titans running to their second straight win.

Milwaukee 58, Wright State 38
Holding visiting Wright State to 25 percent shooting from the floor, Milwaukee cruised to a 58-38 victory over the Raiders at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Milwaukee (12-6, 5-1 Horizon) moved a half game ahead of Cleveland State and Youngstown State in the Horizon League standings. Both northeastern Ohio schools will take the court tomorrow night. Already the nation's leader in three-point defense, the Panthers allowed Wright State (9-10, 4-3 Horizon) just two three-pointers on the evening.

Locking down on the perimeter, the Panthers bottled up Julius Mays, who entered the night leading the League in scoring in conference play. Mays was held 15 points below his average, finishing with just three points.

Kaylon Williams controlled the Milwaukee offense, dishing out nine assists in just 29 minutes as Rob Jeter was able to empty his bench in the second half. Meanwhile, Tony Meier found his shooting stroke, hitting four three-pointers en route to a game-high 16 points. James Haarsma was the only other player to reach double figures, finishing with 13 points.

Milwaukee's defense put the Wright State in an early hole, with the Panthers jumping out to a 17-7 lead in the game's first 10 minutes after a three-point play by Ryan Hagerty. The lead would grow to as much as 19 in the first half after a Haarsma bucket followed back-to-back Meier threes. Wright State would draw no closer than 13 points in the second half.

Detroit 80, Green Bay 73
Tied at 66 with just over three minutes to play, Detroit closed the game on a 14-7 spurt, enabling the Titans to grab their first win at the Resch Center in five years, 80-73, over Green Bay.

Detroit (9-10, 3-4 Horizon) collected its second straight win, getting another balanced scoring effort, led by Ray McCallum's 16 points. The preseason player of the year's final field goal of the night was a crucial one, as the sophomore stole a sideline inbounds pass near midcourt and streaked down the left side for a layup, giving Detroit a 73-66 lead with 2:05 to play over Green Bay (6-10, 2-4 Horizon).

Just a minute before, Jason Calliste had given Detroit a 69-66 advantage on a second-chance possession, coming after Doug Anderson grabbed an offensive board and kicked the ball out to Calliste, who buried the triple. McCallum and Anderson would seal the win, with McCallum converting two free throws and Anderson turning in a highlight reel dunk with 20 ticks left to put Detroit up, 79-70.

The game was played at Detroit's preferred up-tempo pace, but Green Bay had no trouble keeping up, leading for most of the first half before Detroit closed the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 40-38 lead into the half. The Phoenix battled back to grab a 62-60 advantage on a Terry Johnson three with 7:30 left and free throws from Aaron Armstead, Brennan Cougill and Kam Cerroni pushed Green Bay to a 66-62 lead with 5:37 to play.

However, free throws from Anderson and LaMarcus Lowe would knot the game at 66, setting up Detroit's closing stretch.

Calliste posted his third straight game in double figures, adding 14 points to the Detroit attack, while Lowe and Eli Holman posted 13 and 11, respectively. Alec Brown led all scorers with 17 points, falling one rebound shy of a double-double for the Phoenix. Cougill recorded 13 points, with Johnson coming off the bench to post 11. Keifer Sykes finished with 10 points and four assists.

Saturday will see Green Bay host Wright State in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week at 2 p.m. ET, while Detroit will head south on I-43 to meet Milwaukee for an 8 p.m. ET contest on the Horizon League Network.