The men’s basketball team headed back to the locker rooms at the Klotsche Center on campus Sunday afternoon, as the Oakland Grizzlies posed for pictures center court. Milwaukee lost 86-75.
Sunday marked the last game of the regular season for the UWM men’s team and began with a special tribute to the seniors. Brock Stull led the way with 21 points and seven assists. Scoring efforts from seniors Cody Wichmann and Cameron Harvey were short in lifting the Panthers past the Grizzlies on Senior Day.
“We didn’t get enough stops,” said Wichmann. “They were making some tough shots. We just couldn’t keep up and make them miss.”
Several players were key for Oakland in their impressive road showcase. Sherron Dorsey-Walker scored a career-high 28 points. Martez Walker followed with 21 points and seven rebounds. The Grizzlies clinched the Conference play title and No. 1 seed with this game.
The teams traded baskets throughout the first half. Milwaukee soared at multiple points with contributions from their bench. Cameron Harvey scored one of his total four threes at the buzzer before halftime to tie the game, 39-39.
“We got good looks in transition early,” said UWM Head Coach LaVall Jordan.
Oakland was aggressive out of the half, which got UWM into foul trouble. Oakland thrusted into the paint, outscoring Milwaukee in both points in the paint and second-chance points.
UWM looked to come back on offense. Brett Prahl made a huge put back, which put him in double digits and raised his six rebounds to seven, but the Panthers could not gain one up over the hot-shooting Grizzlies. Oakland proved more efficient, shooting 52 percent to UWM’s 41 percent by the final buzzer.
“We learned a lot of lessons from regular season play to Conference play,” said LaVall Jordan. “Now, we get to coach ourselves through and move forward to Friday.”
Milwaukee finishes the regular season 8-23 and 4-14 in the Horizon League. The Panthers will play postseason action in the Horizon League Championship Tournament.
Postseason begins on Friday with UWM against Detroit Mercy in Detroit. Milwaukee sits at the No. 10 seed in the tournament.