MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The I-43 rivalry lived up to the hype once again Monday night, as the Green Bay men's basketball team snapped a 14-game losing streak by downing Milwaukee 80-79 in an overtime thriller.
Randy Tucker paced Green Bay (3-22, 2-12 HL) with 20 points, which marks a career-high and the first time he's tallied 20 or more points in his career. Davin Zeigler tacked on 18, while Brock Heffner chipped in with 17. Ryan Wade, who made his fourth start for GB Monday night, tied a career-high with 10 points.
Milwaukee (16-8, 10-4 HL) was led by BJ Freeman, who racked up 28 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Milwaukee pulled out to an early 11-2 lead, and despite Green Bay attempting to claw back, MKE led 17-8 with 11:39 left in the first half. After Randy Tucker splashed a triple with 10:39 remaining in the opening frame, Milwaukee led by no more than seven in the half. Several key plays kept the Phoenix in striking distance, including Brock Heffner's three to make it 20-19 in favor of MKE with 5:55 before intermission. A technical foul on Ahmad Rand led to Tucker making a pair of free throws, keeping it a three-point game with 4:07 to go, and an offensive rebound by Cade Meyer gave way to Wade knocking down a corner triple right before the halftime buzzer, sending the Phoenix into the locker room down 34-31.
The second half began with Milwaukee making their first two shots, leading 39-34 with 18:49 remaining in regulation. However, momentum began to swing in Green Bay's favor when Tucker knocked down one of his four triples to make it 40-39 with 17:26 to go. It gave Green Bay their first lead since it was 2-0 to open the game. Another three sunk from Zeigler, extending Green Bay's lead to four at 43-39 with 16:33 remaining in the half. Milwaukee had an answer, going on a 10-2 run to regain a four-point lead. The Panthers would take a five-point lead after Jalen Johnson drained a mid-range jumper, giving MKE a 53-48 lead with 9:50 to go. The game was far from over, with both teams playing tug-of-war down the stretch. Neither squad led by more than three points for the final 7:46 of the frame. In a game down to the wire, it was Zeigler who splashed a long three to tie with game with 1.1 seconds remaining in regulation, eventually sending the game to overtime.
Milwaukee took the lead 22 seconds into the overtime period after Freeman went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. This time, it was Green Bay with an answer, as Tucker knocked down a long jump shot to tie the game before Zeigler made a pair of free throws, giving GB a 75-73 lead with 2:57 left in overtime. Elijah Jamison came through for MKE, knocking down two free throws to give the Panthers the lead with 12 seconds left. In the end, Zeigler struck again, rattling a dagger shot through to give GB an 80-79 lead with seven-tenths of a second remaining. Despite a last-second attempt by Milwaukee, the Phoenix hung on for the 80-79 victory.
GAME NOTES
» Interim head coach
Freddie Owens recorded the first win of his head coaching career.
» Green Bay drilled 16 three-pointers in the contest, the most in a single game in program history.
» The Phoenix tallied 15 assists in the game.
» GB's defense forced 14 turnovers, turning those takeaways into 17 points
» Green Bay got a team-high eight rebounds from Tucker.
COMING UP
The Phoenix will return home for a two-game homestand, battling Oakland on Thursday night before welcoming Detroit Mercy to the Kress on Saturday. UWGB students can find information
here on Krash the Kress, which is happening Thursday.
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