CATCH THE ACTION
  at Cleveland State: L, 79-80  
  at Youngstown State: Saturday, Jan. 6 - 6 p.m. CT  //  Youngstown, Ohio (Beeghly Center)

Matchup: Green Bay Phoenix (7-10, 2-2 HL) at Youngstown State Penguins (4-11, 2-0 HL)

Game Notes: Green Bay Notes  |  Youngstown State Notes

Where to Follow Stats: PrestoSports Live Stats

Where to Watch:  Online - ESPN3

Where to Listen: WNFL 101.9 FM, 1440 AM with Brian Kuklinski on the call

For Live in-game updates, follow: @gbphoenixmbb on Twitter and gbphoenixmbb on Instagram

GAME NOTES

RECAPPING CLEVELAND
Despite leading for over 30 minutes against the Vikings, Green Bay lost 80-79 on Thursday night, with its final shot attempt to win it getting blocked. Khalil Small led Green Bay with a career-high 30 points, but its wasn't enough for GB to pick up its first road win of the season.  Small converted an and-one with less than a minute to play, but GB was denied on its final possession. Kameron Hankerson scored 14 points and David Jesperson added 10 points, but Sandy Cohen III and PJ Pipes both fouled out and combined for only 12 points, after both have reached double-figures in 6-straight games. 
 
1,000 POINTS IS NOT SMALL
Green Bay's senior leader Khalil Small notched his 1,000th career point on Thursday night, becoming just the 28th player in program history to reach that milestone. At his current 16.8 PPG average, Small would move all the way to 15th all-time in scoring in the 49-year history of the program. He has scored in double-figures in all 17 games this year, the most double-figure scoring games by any HL player this season. Small scored a new career-high 30 points in the team's loss on Thursday night at Cleveland State.

SLAMMING SANDY
Local sensation Sandy Cohen III has certainly lived up to the hype so far this season, having now scored in double-figures 5 of his 6 games he's been in action. Cohen III was averaging 18.3 PPG through the first three Horizon League games, before fouling out in only 18 minutes at Cleveland State, and the redshirt-junior scored a career-high 24 in the team's win over the Titans, before netting 17 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double against league-favorite Oakland in the Phoenix's 80-79 thrilling upset victory. Cohen III was named Horizon League Player of the Week for his strong showing against the Titans and Golden Grizzlies, the first such award for any GB palyer this year. The Seymour-native also notched 3 blocks and 3 steals in the win over Oakland, and leads the Phoenix in scoring now with 16.8 PPG.
 
THE PIPES IS RIGHT
Earning Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors for his strong performance this past weekend, PJ Pipes is averaging 12.7PPG in his first three career Horizon League games, and the freshman has shot a highly-efficient 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from the field and an impressive 15-for-16 (93.8 percent) from the free throw line. Getting the start in all three games and averaging 27.0 MPG, Pipes is third on the team in scoring in league play and converted a late basket with less than two minutes to play to give Green Bay the lead over Oakland before eventually securing the 80-79 upset victory. Pipes has now scored in double-figures in each of his last seven games and went a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line against IUPUI.
 
FACING AN NBA SCHEDULE
By time the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 16 comes around, Green Bay will have already played 8 Horizon League games, the most of any team in the conference. Off to a 2-2 start, GB is tight on practice and preparation time, playing its third game in six days this week. The team virtually plays every other day, playing 5 games over just a 10-day span to open Horizon League play, and will play three more games following that over a 6-day span. The Phoenix will play 10 games in the month of January alone and will play only one home game over its last six games and only once in the month of February.

CONSISTENT IN CONFERENCE
With another 2-0 start to Horizon League play in 2017-18, Green Bay has now started the conference season off with at least a 2-0 record in Horizon League play in each of the past five seasons. GB went 12-6 in HL play last season, finishing in the top half of the league standings for the fifth-straight season. Additionally, the Phoenix has gone 50-20 in Horizon League games over those five seasons, the second-best record of any HL team (Valparaiso went 52-16 over the last four seasons). With the departure of the Crusaders from the conference, Green Bay returns as the program with the highest winning percentage in league games among all HL teams. Getting off to a strong start this season will certainly be a challenge, as Green Bay will play 8 Horizon League games in the first 18 days of the league schedule, and 7 in the first 15 days.

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