Green Bay coach Linc Darner
The Green Bay Phoenix had just played five-straight road games and ten of their last 12 away from the Resch Center, and the Milwaukee Panthers were wrapping up a five-game road trip, facing their rivals on Monday night.
The two teams were clearly road weary and their offense came in spurts. In the end, the Phoenix played the cleaner game and held off the Panthers 70-68 to move into 4th place in the Horizon League, in front of the Panthers. The Phoenix evened the season series with the two games being decided by a total of three points.
The Panthers had a couple of chances at the end of the game, with the Phoenix leading by two. Brock Stull and Austin Arians missed three-pointers in the final eight seconds.
Turnovers hurt the Panthers, committing 16 of them, while the Phoenix turned the ball over just six times. Green Bay scored 21 points off of Panther turnovers.
The Panthers started the season 5-2, but they’ve dropped five of their last seven overall and finished the most recent road trip with a 1-4 record.
Green Bay actually had the chance to put the game away with four seconds remaining, but junior guard Charles Cooper missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
Junior forward Jamar Hurdle had his best outing of the season for the Phoenix, scoring 11 points, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking four shots. Charles Cooper led the Phoenix with 18 points.
Green Bay did lose guard Khalil Small in the second half with a head injury. After he was checked over by the team’s medical staff, Small was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Matt Tiby had 15 points to lead the Panthers in a losing cause.