The Panther Arena was loud for a historic night as the Milwaukee Panthers welcomed the Hampton Pirates for the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The game quickly turned into a tense back and forth match up bringing panther fans to the edge of their seats. The pirates put up a great fight but in the end the Panthers managed to clinch a season opening victory.
“They are an old veteran team, they’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of college basketball,” said head coach Bart Lundy. “It’s not a surprise they didn’t go away.”
Seth Hubbard set the tone for the game, securing the first points on the board for Milwaukee. He would later make a statement, scoring the most points in the game overall.
Although the team had amazing chemistry, the Panthers struggled with many missed shots especially in the first half. A tremendous amount of free throws missed which would later influence the impact on what could have been an easy sweep. Defensively, the boys looked sharp which was proven at the exhibition match.
“It was a game where we learned a lot,” said Lundy. “It wasn’t pretty at times, the obvious stat that pops out is the free throw shooting. We weren’t able to put them away.”
Milwaukee was leading at the half 49-36 with the biggest lead being by 14. Seth Hubbard led in points scored with 18 and went 4-6 in three point shots.
A look at the second half
Faizon Fields brought the fuel going into the second half starting strong with an incredible dunk which later would turn into his specialty for the rest of the night. The Pirates were trailing Milwaukee most the second half by at least 10 points.
Hampton responded quickly and gained momentum and stood their ground making the game a close call in the last 5 minutes of the game. The Pirates managed to bring quick points on the board only trailing by single digit numbers.
Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt from Hampton was the star of their team bringing in 25 points of the night and going 12-15 in free throws.
Hubbard, the front man of the game, ended the night with 23 points and going 4-7 in three point shots. Both Faizon Fields and Stevie Elam finished with 16 points.
Elam made his first college debut going 4-7 in 3 point shots and 6 rebounds. Elam delivered an incredible performance which immediately signaled how well he fits into the team’s dynamic.
Isaiah Dorceus was also able to finish with double digit numbers. Danilo Jovanovich, a familiar face to Milwaukee led with 10 rebounds for the night. Amar Augillard added in 7 points and went 5-7 in free throws.
Sekou Konneh added 8 points and 8 rebounds in what was also his first college debut. Points from the paint were a close call, with Milwaukee having 36 over Hampton’s 32.
Where is John Lovelace?
As a Panther fan, it wasn’t hard to notice that one of the key faces of Milwaukee basketball was missing. Lovelace made an appearance at the exhibition match the week prior but missed the home opening game.
Head coach Bart Lundy announced Lovelace will be out for the year due to a severe injury that happened at practice a few days prior. “It was a pretty emotional last few days,” said Lundy. “We want to wish Johnny the best and he’ll be with us in spirit.”
John Lovelace Jr. a returning core player and one of five players to appear in all 32 games last season. He averaged 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Lovelace put together three games of 10-or-more points and secured 40.7 percent of field goals overall.
“He was playing at such a high level and has really come so far since he’s been here,” said Lundy.
In the end, the Panthers prevailed and gained their first victory of the season, 90-86 over Hampton. Milwaukee heads on the road to take on Wofford on Saturday, Nov. 8 followed by a home game back at the Panther Arena on Monday Nov. 10 to take on Little Rock at 7 p.m.