Milwaukee Wins NIU Invitational

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 17)
Milwaukee 82, Northern Illinois 69
Ohio 76, Valparaiso 72
#rv/-- Massachusetts 85, Youngstown State 69
#15/15 Gonzaga 82, Oakland 67

Milwaukee won its fourth straight game, capturing the NIU Invitational to record the lone win in the Horizon League on Sunday.

Milwaukee 82, Northern Illinois 69
Malcolm Moore scored 15 points to lead five players in double figures and Milwaukee overcame foul trouble and an early 14-point deficit to claim an 82-69 win over Northern Illinois and the championship of the NIU Invitational.

Milwaukee (4-1) looked to be in deep trouble when they fell down 21-7 and saw Matt Tiby, Jordan Aaron and Kyle Kelm all sent to the bench with two fouls early in the first half.

Instead, sparked by Moore, the strong direction and leadership of Steve McWhorter and some timely plays by others, Milwaukee outscored NIU, 75-48, over the final 29 minutes of the game.

McWhorter had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, scoring 12 of his points in the first half. Austin Arians and Aaron added 13 apiece, while Kelm fought through his foul trouble to score 12 points and grab six rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Panthers also made 11 three-pointers, eventually won the battle at the foul line and had just two turnovers in the second half.

Moore, a fifth-year transfer from UTEP who has been slowed all preseason by injury, came through at the perfect time for Milwaukee. Nine of his 15 points came from beyond the arc and 12 came in the first half, when the Panthers desperately needed an extra spark.

Milwaukee's slow start saw the Panthers put together their poorest 10 minutes of the season. A three-pointer by Aaron Armstead made it 21-7 with 10:52 remaining, and UWM actually had to fend off a handful of additional NIU possessions to keep the deficit at 14.

But Moore and McWhorter combined for six in a row to get the Panthers going and eventually a three-pointer by Moore brought Milwaukee to within three at 26-23. An Evan Richard three gave Milwaukee the lead by halftime and UWM seemed much more comfortable in the second 20 minutes.

While Milwaukee could never totally shake Northern Illinois in the second half, it did lead nearly the whole way and took the lead back for good with 10:50 left.

It was a Kelm three with 1:36 remaining that finally seemed to break the spirit of the Huskies, with Milwaukee going up 72-65. UWM then made 10-of-12 free throws from there to seal the win.

The Panthers carry a four-game winning streak into their home opener Tuesday, with Big East foe DePaul making a visit to the U.S. Cellular Arena.

#--/rv Massachusetts 85, Youngstown State 69
Freshman Marcus Keene scored a career-high 20 points and sophomore Bobby Hain posted his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Youngstown State dropped an 85-69 decision to UMass at the Mullins Center.

Youngstown State (4-1) forced 19 Minutemen turnovers and took 18 more field-goal attempts, but shot just 36.8 percent from the floor and 19.2 percent from 3-point range. The Penguins scored just 24 points off those 19 UMass miscues.

UMass, though, was more efficient in the shot-attempts, making 55.2 percent (32-of-58) and improve to 3-0.

Senior Kendrick Perry scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four steals. He moved into 14th place on the Youngstown State all-time scoring list with 1,407 career points. With his four steals, Perry also became the school's all-time leader in steals with 185.

The first half was a tightly contested game all 20 minutes. After UMass built a five-point lead midway through the half, 20-15, at the 9:45 mark, the Penguins’ younger players led a key surge.

Keene scored his only bucket of the first half to get within three, 20-17, a 3-pointer by freshman Kyle Steward and another by sophomore Ryan Weber got the Penguins within striking distance, 22-20, and 24-23, respectively.

The Minutemen, though closed out the half on a 10-3 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.

UMass' momentum continued as the second half started and the Minutemen built a 15-point lead, 45-30, less than four minutes into the second half.

Keene scored seven points – two layups and a 3-pointer – in less than two minutes to propel the Penguin to a 13-4 run to get within six, 49-43, with 13:36 to go.

Another layup by Keene at the 13:02 mark kept the deficit at six, 51-45, before UMass scored the next six points to ballooned its leads to 12, 57-45, with nine minutes left.

Hain made two free throws and a layup to get the Penguins within eight, 57-49, at the under-eight media timeout, but the Penguins would not get any closer.

Ohio 76, Valparaiso 72
Valparaiso erased a 16-point second-half deficit to take the lead for the first time with 2:49 to play, but could not come out with the victory, as Ohio earned the 76-72 win as the Convocation Center.

Valparaiso (2-2) found itself behind seemingly from the tip, shooting just 8-for-24 from the field in the first half as the Crusaders fell behind, 40-28, at the break.

After beginning the second half with an 8-0 spurt, the struggles returned for Valpo as Ohio opened a 62-46 lead after the Bobcats repeatedly got to the rim with Antonio Campbell, Maurice Ndour and Steve Taylor all converting layups.

However, it was two freshmen who would spur a furious Valpo comeback and give the Crusaders a chance at the win.

Alec Peters and Clay Yeo sandwiched 3-pointers around layups to draw Valpo within eight, 64-56.

Ohio would push the lead back to 10, but Valpo continued its push, closing with 69-63 after LaVonte Dority drilled a 3 with 4:24 to play. After the senior contributed, it was the freshman Peters’ turn, as a free throw and layup sliced the gap in half.

Dority hit two free throws with 3:03 left and after a steal, Peters converted at the rim to give the Crusaders their first lead since 43 seconds into the game, 70-69, with 2:49 remaining.

Control of the game was decided at the free-throw line over the last two minutes, with Jordan Coleman starting the festivities with a pair to give Valpo a 72-70 edge.

Ohio would parade to the line on its next two trips, hitting 3-of-4 to regain the lead. Peters had two shots to give the Crusaders the lead in the final 80 seconds, but neither dropped.

Down three after two more Ohio free throws, Coleman had a look at a game-tying triple, but could not connect.

No. 15/15 Gonzaga 82, Oakland 67
Playing its third straight game on the west coast, Oakland hung with No. 15/15 Gonzaga but could not quite get over the hump in an 82-67 loss in the Maui Invitational.

Again with just eight players, Oakland (4-0) knocked down 11 3-pointers, five from Travis Bader. Bader moved into 21st on the NCAA career 3-pointer list, now with 376 in his career.

Bader’s effort was matched by Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos, who scored 21 points, making five 3-pointers.

A quick 6-2 spurt drew Oakland with 41-36 early in the second half, but Gonzaga countered with a Sam Dower dunk to regain momentum.

Pangos made two of Gonzaga's three straight 3-pointers, to extend its lead to 59-47 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Mitch Baenziger made Oakland's fourth 3-pointer of the second half to trim the lead to 63-55 with 7:28 left.

Consecutive 3's by Pangos and Drew Barham put Gonzaga up 69-55, but Bader answered with his fifth make from behind the arc.

Tommy McCune had 17, and Mitch Baenziger added 11 before fouling out with 3 minutes left.

Knotted at 6-6, Gonzaga nailed three straight 3-pointers -- in 65 seconds -- to take an early 15-9 lead. In its last game against Colorado State, Gonzaga made 14 shots from behind the arc -- eight by Bell.

However, Oakland continually came back, as a McCune 3-pointer and his assist to Ralph Hill for a dunk cut the deficit to 23-18 with under 9 minutes to go. Bader's 3-pointer, the third straight Oakland make from behind the arc, made it 34-27 with 4 minutes remaining. Bader made three of Oakland's final four shots of the first half, all 3-pointers, and the Grizzlies trailed 39-30 at halftime.