By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - In a back-and-forth, entertaining affair at the Resch Center, visiting Detroit (9-10, 3-4 HL) used a late run to slide past the Phoenix 80-73 in Horizon League action and hand Green Bay (6-10, 2-4 HL) its first home loss of the 2011-12 season.

The Phoenix was effective early on the offensive end, using nine points from sophomore Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) in the first seven minutes to help Green Bay lead 23-18 with 11:29 to play. Brown had a jumper and senior Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn.) scored points as part of a 9-2 run later in the half, helping the Phoenix to a 34-27 lead with 5:30 left.

Brown had 11 points at the break and finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks per game. The Phoenix big man is averaging 15 points and nine rebounds per game in league play.

Detroit recovered at the end of the half, closing with a 10-2 spurt that left the Titans in front 40-38 at the break. Jason Calliste scored four points during the run and had nine points at the break.

The visitors increased the lead to seven early in the second half and still led by five with 14:38 to play before back-to-back layups from freshman Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) and a jumper by Terry Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) put Green Bay in front 53-52.

The teams traded the lead three times and were tied three times over the next few minutes before a small 7-3 run was capped with two free throws by sophomore Kam Cerroni (Sussex, Wis.) and a 66-62 lead for Green Bay with 5:37 to play.

Green Bay's offense stalled at that point, and Detroit scored the game's next 11 points to take control with a 73-66 lead and 2:25 to play. Sykes stopped the bleeding with jumper with just over a minute to play, but the Titans made 5-of-6 free throws in the last minute to seal the win.

With 10 points, Sykes was one of three other Phoenix players to reach double figures. The freshman point guard was limited to just 23 minutes because of foul trouble but scored in double digits for the third time in as many games.

Junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) and Johnson added 12 and 11 points. Baker scored all nine of his points in the first half while Cerroni totaled eight points despite taking just three shots. Cougill had five and Sykes added four of Green Bay's 19 assists.

The Phoenix finished 27-of-56 from the field for 48.2 percent while knocking down half of its 14 three-point attempts. Detroit held a distinct 40-30 advantage on the glass, including grabbing 18 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second-chance points.

Green Bay has a quick turnaround before welcoming Wright State to the Resch Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. The first 1,000 youth fans in attendance will receive a mini basketball courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board while the Festival Foods Family Game will offer discounted tickets and $1 hot dogs and $1 sodas.

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