The 3rd Man In

Panthers look to halt losing skid

Milwaukee Panthers (5-9) vs. Cleveland State (6-8)
Location: Wolstein Center – Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 6:00 p.m. CST
Broadcast: TV – Time Warner SportsChannel, ESPN3; Radio – WISN-AM1130

After an embarrassing loss to South Dakota, the Milwaukee Panthers will look to turn things around, when they open up Horizon League play against Cleveland State on the road Friday evening.

The Vikings swept the regular-season series last season, while the Panthers have also had no luck in Cleveland in recent years, failing to win on the Vikings’ home court since 2011.

Before the season began Cleveland State was selected to finish second in the Horizon League, however, it has been a shaky start to the year for the Vikings. They enter conference play with two straight losses, with their last loss coming against VCU on Monday.

Leading the Viking offensive attack is forward Trey Lewis who leads the team with 17.4 points per game. Anton Grady has also been a reliable contributor averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest, while Charlie Lee has added 10.8 points per game.

Although Cleveland State is extremely balanced on the offensive end, they are best known for their gritty defense, which has allowed 61.8 points per game.

The Panthers are still searching for their first true road win of the season, but it will not be easy against the Vikings. Milwaukee has fallen on hard times as they are currently sitting on a three-game losing streak and have struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball.

In their last three games they are shooting just under 33 percent and 17 percent from three-point range, while averaging only 56.7 points.

This won’t be an easy game for Milwaukee, and they will need to display significant improvement offensively in order to have a shot at knocking off Cleveland State.

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