Milwaukee and Green Bay each closed out victories in the final minutes on Sunday, moving to fifth and sixth in the Horizon League standings, respectively. The two will get together next Saturday in a nationally televised contest on ESPNU.
At the Resch Center, Green Bay (12-11, 6-5 Horizon) turned a three-point advantage into a double-digit lead, pulling away from Detroit (11-12, 5-6 Horizon) for an 85-74 victory. The win gave the Phoenix a split of the season series with the Titans.
A 9-0 Phoenix run helped turn a 72-69 advantage with 4:35 remaining into a 12-point bulge with just two minutes on the clock. Steve Baker capped the burst with a three from the top of the arc, forcing a Titan timeout and all but sealing the game. Baker's triple capped an 11-of-20 effort for the Phoenix from the three-point line.
While Green Bay knocked down seven of their attempts from distance in the first half, Detroit was able to hang around by hitting 57 percent of its attempts in the game's first 20 minutes. Trailing by single point at the half, the Titans opened a 49-47 lead on a Nick Minnerath triple and Ray McCallum free throw, but a five-minute scoreless drought allowed the Phoenix to build a six-point lead midway through the half, setting the stage for the game-clinching run down the stretch.
Rahmon Fletcher matched his season high with 24 points for Green Bay, while Bryquis Perine and Alec Brown added 16 and 10, respectively. McCallum led the Titans with 15 points, with Eli Holman chipping in 14 despite foul trouble. Minnerath finished with 12 points and Chris Blake had 10 off the bench for the Titans, who fell to seventh place in the Horizon League standings with the loss.
Milwaukee (12-11, 7-5 Horizon) jumped to fifth in the League standings, hanging on for a 54-53 victory over a beat up Wright State (14-9, 7-4 Horizon) squad. The Panthers gained a split with the Raiders, which each team winning on its home court. The victory was the third straight for the Panthers, who withstood a late run from Wright State.
Anthony Hill led Milwaukee with 22 points, controlling the interior in getting the foul line for 17 attempts, converting 14. Defensively, Hill picked up the first of two key charges taken by the Panthers down the stretch as Wright State had two chances to tie or take the lead in the closing minutes.
Wright State trailed by nine with just over six minutes to play, but whittled the deficit down to three after back-to-back three-pointers from Vaughn Duggins and N'Gai Evans. After Hill split a pair of free throws, Evans knocked down another bomb to bring the Raiders within 51-50 with just over a minute remaining.
The Panthers dodged one Raider attempt at the lead when Hill drew a charge on Keegan Clark; after Wright State came up with a defensive hold, Tone Boyle drew a charge on Evans, giving the ball back to Milwaukee with 29 seconds left. Hitting 3-of-6 free throws in the closing minutes, Milwaukee got its final point on Boyle's free throw with 4.0 seconds left to make the score 54-50. The point paid dividends when Clark hit a running 30-footer at the buzzer to create the game's final margin.
Duggins carried Wright State throughout, scoring a game-high 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting. His fellow senior Evans added 15, with the duo combining to go 5-for-8 from three-point range and 10-of-10 at the free-throw line. Hill was the lone Panther in double figures, while Boyle snared a career-best 10 rebounds, just missing a double-double with nine points.
Wright State remains in third place in the Horizon League standings, one-half game ahead of Butler and Milwaukee. The Bulldogs lead the Panthers on percentage points for fourth.
