Surviving a late meltdown

DAYTON, Ohio - The UW-Milwaukee Panthers continued to make noise in the Horizon League as they built a 17-point lead and then survived a late scare to knock off Wright State, 74-73, on Saturday night at the Nutter Center.

The Panthers (14-14, 7-8 Horizon) looked to be on cruise control with a 70-53 lead with 5:33 remaining in the game.

But the Purple Knights (19-8, 11-3), who entered the day in a first-place tie in the conference with Northern Kentucky, came storming back due to a series of turnovers and missed free throws by the Panthers.

Wright State’s 20-4 run to close out the game was capped by Grant Benzinger’s three-pointer that made it 74-73 with 11 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Brock Stull was fouled but missed both free throws to give Wright State a chance to complete the come back.

But Benzinger missed a threepointer with 1 second left and the Panthers were happy to head back to Milwaukee as happy campers.

Jeremiah Bell scored 18 points to lead UWM, while Stull added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Carson Warren-Newsome chipped in 11 points and Brett Prahl had 10 for the Panthers.

Freshman Loudon Love scored 20 points with a career-best 19 rebounds for the Raiders, who fell into second place in the conference standings, one game behind Northern Kentucky.