Sykes' Career-High Guides GB to Victory

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 10)
Green Bay 79, Milwaukee 63

Senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) scored 22 of his career-high 34 points in the first half as visiting Green Bay (13-3, 2-0 HL) built a 20-point lead at intermission and cruised to a 79-63 victory at Milwaukee on Friday night in Horizon League action at UWM Panther Arena.

The senior point guard made 13-of-20 shots on the night, including 5-of-7 from long range. The scoring output matches the career high Sykes set on Jan. 12, 2014 at Milwaukee, when he scored 34 points in a 93-86 overtime Phoenix victory.Milwaukee scored the first five points and led 13-10 seven minutes into the game, but Green Bay started to take control with a 16-4 run to lead 26-17. Sykes scored 10 points during the run, including back-to-back three-pointers.

After a Milwaukee bucket, Sykes buried a jumper to start a 14-0 spurt which left the Phoenix lead at 40-19 with 3:39 to play before halftime. The Phoenix carried a 47-27 lead into the locker room, a season high for first-half points.

Four days after scoring 23 second-half points in a 79-55 win over Wright State, Sykes totaled 22 in the first half on Friday night. The reigning Horizon League Player of the Year made 8-of-11 shots from the field, with all eight makes coming in succession.

Green Bay shot 56.7 percent from the field (17-30) in the opening half while Milwaukee was held to only 34.8 percent (8-23).

Milwaukee’s offense turned it up on a notch in the second half, and the Panthers closed the gap to 11 at one point, but continued strong play from Sykes, the offensive efforts of senior Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) and junior Carrington Love (Milwaukee, Wis.) and the defense of junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) thwarted any chance of a comeback.

Mays totaled nine points after halftime and finished with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Love tallied eight of his 15 points in the second half for his seventh double-digit game in the past eight contest. Fouse had three blocks and three steals after intermission, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

Green Bay finished with a 37-24 advantage on the glass, and shot 55.6 percent from the field overall (30-54).

Steve McWhorter equaled a career high with 21 points to go with four rebounds and five assists. Akeem Springs pitched in 18 points, his highest total since going for 21 points in the season opener at Auburn. Matt Tiby posted his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards and J.J. Panoske chipped in 10 points and five boards.