The Milwaukee Panthers dropped their game against Purdue Fort Wayne in the last few minutes on Sunday at the Panther Arena. The Panthers hosted their first home game after having a successful last two road games against Wright State (95-79) and Northern Kentucky (79-59). Milwaukee was looking to keep their number two spot in the Horizon League standings.
The Panthers now (15-8, 8-4 Horizon League) went head to head with the Mastodons (16-8, 9-4 Horizon League) who were both voted preseason favorites to win the league in a tough back-to-back scoring game.
A major shot clock violation against Fort Wayne with 3:35 left in the first half handed Milwaukee the ball and allowed them to lead 36-33 going into the half.
Heading into the second half, Fort Wayne came out strong, scoring the first 8 points. Consecutive scoring from both teams after; Pullian with a vital three-point shot assisted by Danilo Jovanovich to tie the game 41-41 with 16:22 in the second half.
Fulks on fire
Themus Fulks led the Panthers with 15 points and added three rebounds, two steals and eight assists adding to his 500 assists in his NCAA career.
A few other Panthers were able to put up double figures as well; Faizon Fields with 13 points and 9 rebounds, Erik Pratt with 13 points and 5 rebounds. AJ Mckee added 12 points and Kentrell Pullian helped add to the score with 11 points and 4 steals.
The Mastodons’ Jalen Jackson, who is currently the leading scorer in the Horizon League, led the team with 22 points and four rebounds. The star of the show for Fort Wayne was Rasheed Bello with 23 points, including five 3-pointers and six rebounds.
The Panthers trailed the Mastodons until Fulks was able to secure a steal followed by a layup to tie up the game 70-70 with 3:40 left in the second half. Shortly after, Fort Wayne’s Rasheed Bello broke the tie with a big step-back three-pointer to give Fort Wayne the lead once again.
“There’s got to be more urgency on shooters,” said Head Coach Bart Lundy. “Throughout the season we’ve done a really good job with three-point defense, tonight that wasn’t there.”
AJ Mckee with a three-point shot assisted by Themus Fulks helped bring the score up to 79-80 with four seconds left. Milwaukee was unable to build their momentum back up and fell short this game losing 79-81.
“There are guys sitting on our bench right now that aren’t getting a lot of opportunities that are playing really hard every day,” said Lundy. “You can’t give up 81 on your home floor.”
Both teams ended the game with 47% from the floor, The Panthers beat the Mastodons in the paint 46-30 as well as having a rebound advantage with 39-28.
The Panthers are back on the road for the next two games, going against IU Indy on Feb. 5 followed by another match-up against Cleveland State on Feb. 8.