By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
DETROIT, Mich.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - On the
offensive end, Green Bay (10-14, 6-8 HL) had a strong effort that put it in
position to win on Sunday afternoon at Detroit (15-12, 9-6 HL). Unfortunately
for a short stretch in the second half, the Titans' Chase Simon got hot against
the Phoenix defense and helped his team overcome a 12-point deficit and post a
77-74 win at Calihan Hall.
The Phoenix trailed 13-9 early before an 11-2
including two threes by senior Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn) gave Green Bay a 20-15 edge with 11:39 to play.
Another Baker triple came in the midst of a 7-0 run late in the half to give
the Phoenix a 38-29 lead that Detroit closed to 38-31 at halftime.
Baker had all 11 of his points at the break on the
strength of a 3-of-4 effort from long range. The Phoenix went 6-for-11 from
three in the half and shot 54.2 percent from the field overall (13-24).
The defense was stifling for Green Bay in the opening
20 minutes as it held the Horizon League's best offense to just 31 points on
35.7 percent shooting (10-28). The Phoenix held Simon to just six points on
2-of-5 shooting.
Green Bay started the second half hot, with a
three-point play by sophomore Alec Brown
(Winona, Minn.) and a couple of free throws from freshman Josh Humphrey (Chicago, Ill.) pushing the Phoenix lead to 43-31
with 17:10 to play.
The teams began to trade buckets, with sophomore Kam Cerroni (Sussex, Wis.) and junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux
City, Iowa) knocking down threes and a jumper by freshman Keifer Sykes (Chicago,
Ill.) keeping the Green Bay lead in double figures (51-40) with 13:25 left.
A steal and dunk by Ray McCallum jumpstarted things
for Detroit, with the hosts putting together a 15-2 run that turned the deficit
into a 55-53 Titan lead with 9:15 to play.
Green Bay's offense responded with scores on six
possessions in a row, but Simon stayed hot for Detroit as the two teams traded
the lead on eight-straight offensive possessions. Simon and LaMarcus Lowe each
had stretches of seven points in a row for Detroit while Sykes had five points
and an assist for the Phoenix.
Sykes put Green Bay ahead 65-64 on a jumper following
a foul that sent Brown to the bench with five, but Detroit got a jumper and a
three-point play from Lowe to move ahead for good.
Green Bay's freshman point guard, Sykes had a
team-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting while dishing out five assists while
Brown added 13 points. Sykes has reached double figures in 10 of his last 11
games while Brown has double figures in seven games in a row.
Detroit's lead grew to seven (73-66) with one minute
to play before Cerroni got hot late and started a Phoenix rally. The sophomore
drained a three to cut the deficit to four with 50 seconds left, and then
followed two Simon free throws with another triple to close the margin to three
with 40 seconds left.
After Simon and Cougill traded successful trips to the
line, McCallum missed a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to give the
Phoenix a chance to tie. Green Bay ended up having three shots at the
game-tying three-pointer.
Cerroni took a contested three with nine seconds but
the ball went out of bounds to the Phoenix. Cougill then missed a three with
five ticks left before Cerroni grabbed the rebound and sprinted to the line for
another shot. His fadeway from the right corner went in and out as time
expired.
Simon scored 18 of his 24 points after halftime to
lead four Titans in double figures. McCallum had 15 points but shot just
5-of-15 from the field while adding six assists. Lowe had 13 points while Jason
Calliste chipped in with 11.
Cerroni and Cougill joined Sykes, Brown and Baker in
double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. Cerroni was 4-of-8 from long range
while Cougill made three of his five attempts from beyond the arc.
Green Bay dropped the game despite hitting 50 percent
from the field (25-50) and the three-point line (11-22) and outrebounding the
Titans 30-28. Detroit improved to 53.8 percent in the second half and finished
the game 24-for-54 from the field. Even with the final two misses by McCallum,
Detroit went 23-of-27 from the free throw line for 85.2 percent.
The Phoenix fell short in its attempt to record its
first Horizon League weekend sweep in seven years while Detroit has now won
eight of its last 10 games to move into a tie for third place in the conference
standings.
The team's busy stretch of seven games in 16 days
continues on Tuesday night when Green Bay welcomes Youngstown State to the
Resch Center to start a three-game homestand. The contest is set for a 7 p.m.
tipoff.
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