Milwaukee Stakes Claim to Top Spot in Horizon League with Road Win

Road teams went 3-0 in Horizon League play on Thursday night, tossing the conference standings up once more heading into the final five games of the regular season.  Milwaukee grabbed control of its League fate with an 87-83 win over Cleveland State, tossing the pair into a three-way tie atop the conference with Butler.  Valparaiso needed to win to stay in a tie for first place, but dropped a 68-48 contest to Loyola at the ARC.  Green Bay stayed in the hunt for the No. 6 seed with a 71-60 triumph at Youngstown State.

With one set of games remaining in the regular season, Milwaukee, Cleveland State and Butler are all tied at 12-5 atop the Horizon League, with the Panthers holding the tiebreaker over the Vikings and Bulldogs due to a 3-1 mark against the other two following tonight's 87-83 victory over Cleveland State.

Gaining revenge for a 20-plus point loss at home in December, Milwaukee (17-12, 12-5 Horizon) raced out to a 16-point lead 15 minutes into the game and held off a furious Cleveland State (23-7, 12-5 Horizon) charge late in the game to put themselves in position to capture the No. 1 seed in the League tournament.  Hot shooting helped the Panthers build the double-digit lead, as UWM started the game 10-of-13 from the field on its way to a 57-percent shooting effort on the night.

Tony Meier's inside-outside game continually gave Cleveland State fits, as the junior forward posted a career-best 28 points, corraling two of his eight rebounds late in the game to help seal the victory.  Meier knocked down half of Milwaukee's eight three-pointers on the night, with Tone Boyle chipping in 16 points with two three pointers.

Down 19 points with just over 12 minutes to play, Cleveland State mounted a late rally, using full-court pressure and missed Milwaukee free throws to chip away at the deficit.  With Norris Cole constantly slashing to the basket, the Vikings got to within 85-81 after Tre Harmon knocked down a three with 26 ticks left.  After two missed freebies on the other end, the Vikings had a chance to close within a possession, but a Ryan Allen steal helped seal the result for Milwaukee.

Needing a win to keep pace with Milwaukee and create a four-way tie atop the League, Valparaiso (20-10, 11-6 Horizon) could not overcome a solid defenisve effort from Loyola (16-13, 7-10 Horizon), dropping a 68-48 decision at the ARC.  The 48 points were the second-fewest for the Crusaders this season, with the Ramblers holding Valpo to just 2-of-23 shooting from three-point range.

Taking an eight-point lead to the locker room, Loyola's lead was cut to a single possession at 40-37 after Jay Harris drained a three for the Crusaders.  However, the Ramblers answered back, getting a three from Geoff McCammon to flip momentum, with Ben Averkamp and Terrance Hill fueling the 9-0 response that put Loyola ahead for good.

The defensive effort never let Valparaiso come within two possessions the rest of the way, helping limit Brandon Wood to just two points in the game.  The Ramblers closed the game on a 14-4 run, with Hill capping the victory by getting a shooter's roll on his three-pointer with under 10 seconds to play.

Clinching a winning record on the year, Hill led the way with 20 points for the Ramblers, with McCammon adding 16.  Courtney Stanley, who has been in and out of the starting lineup during the year, had a season-best 15 points and seven rebounds.  Averkamp chipped in 13 points, with Andy Polka closing within 29 rebounds of 1,000 in his career.

Loyola stayed within striking distance of the seventh seed in the Horizon League Tournament, after Green Bay (14-16, 7-9 Horizon) knocked off Youngstown State (9-19, 2-15 Horizon), 71-60, at the Beeghly Center.  The win kept the Phoenix in the running for the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, should they be able to win at Cleveland State on Saturday in the Horizon League Game of the Week.

Green Bay used a stout defensive effort to hold the Penguins to 36.7 percent shooting, building a 15-point second half lead en route to its second straight win.  Youngstown State entered the game as one of the hottest offensive teams in the League, scoring 70 or more points in five straight games, but shot just 6-for-20 from beyond the three-point arc on Thursday.

The inside-outside combination of Rahmon Fletcher and Alec Brown paced the Phoenix, with Fletcher contributing 18 points and season-best seven boards.  Controlling the inside, Brown had 12 points.  Fletcher's partner in the backcourt, Bryquis Perine, led the Phoenix with 19 points, picking up where he left off after hitting the game-winning jumper in Monday's victory over Valparaiso.

Kendrick Perry and Damian Eargle each had 19 to lead Youngstown State, but the Penguins could not get over the hump after closing with nine points late in the contest.