Phoenix' 33-13 run to end the game beats Panthers
MILWAUKEE - It's a tune that has become all-too familiar for the Milwaukee Panthers in the 2012-13 Horizon League season.
Milwaukee played a great first half, led by circus-shot king Jordan Aaron and the inside play of Demetrius Harris, but the Panthers couldn't get that mojo going again in the second half after the fourteen-minute mark.
With the game tied at 41 with fourteen minutes remaining, Keifer Sykes hit a kick-out three-pointer and the Phoenix never looked back.
"We needed to get a run going. All we needed to do was string some stops together. The defense played a big role in that," said junior Alec Brown of Green Bay.
The defense definitely was key for the Phoenix in their 13-0 run, with Milwaukee unable to connect on any of their shots. The stretch was very reminiscent of the second half of Wednesday's game against UIC, when Milwaukee stuck to the three-pointer despite never making one in 17 attempts.
"It was a good win, we needed it to get the monkey off our back," coach Brian Wardle said after the game. But he wouldn't go so far to say it was all-important. "This was not a must-win. I know a lot of people thought that, but I made sure we didn't feel that way coming in."
Green Bay went on an 18-2 run before Jordan Aaron got the fans back on their feet with a runner, steal and runner to bring it within 59-47.
Despite making a little bit of a flurry from time to time for the rest of the game, Milwaukee never regained their mojo and they lost the game in a decisive 74-54 score.
"The atmosphere tonight was outstanding. I felt for 26 minutes we played outstanding basketball and the final 14 minutes left something to be desired," head coach Rob Jeter said in the post-game press conference. "The types of shots - quick threes - and turnovers took it from 41-41 to down eleven just like that."
"I thought we had turned the corner and become a solid team, but those careless turnovers are holding us back."
Green Bay's Alec Brown was absolutely unstoppable, scoring a career-high 23 points and dominating the Panthers inside. Brown passed the 1,000-point mark with a dunk at the 5:00 minute mark.
"Alec has done an incredible job. There was a lot of pressure on him to start the season, and now he's just being himself and being patient. He's not afraid to share the basketball and having Cougill takes the pressure off him," Jeter said of the Phoenix star.
Brennan Cougill made Milwaukee pay with two put-backs off of Brown misses to give the Phoenix an advantage.
Milwaukee was led by Jordan Aaron with 20 points on the night. Demetrius Harris and JJ Panoske did well in the post, with Harris racking up 12 points and eight rebounds and Panoske pulling down 10 boards to go with eight points.
It was the first road victory for Green Bay all season, who improved to 11-10 on the season and 5-3 in the Horizon League.
Milwaukee dropped to 5-16 and 1-6 in the Horizon League. They visit Loyola on Wednesday, January 30th and Valpo on Friday the 1st of February.