The 3rd Man In

Panthers return home for afternoon contest

Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (3-1) vs. Milwaukee Panthers (2-4)
Location: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Time: 3:00 p.m. CST
Broadcast: Radio – TV: ESPN3; WISN-AM1130

Milwaukee is returning home to the comfy confines of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena to face Division II opponent Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday afternoon, after spending the past 10 days on the road.

This will be the second team the Panthers have faced from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this season. Nearly two weeks ago, Milwaukee beat Minnesota-Crookston 75-54.

The Panthers will look to continue their success against non-Division I teams when they welcome the Golden Bears to Milwaukee, as they are 10-0 all-time in head coach Rob Jeter’s tenure against non-Division I opponents.

The Panthers and Golden Bears have faced each other three times in the past with the first meeting coming in 2001. Milwaukee has one each of the last three meetings, with their last win coming on November 13, 2009, when they won 89-73.

Just because the Golden Bears are a Division II teams doesn’t mean they will be easy to beat. In their first four games their offense has averaged 79.5 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the field.

Concordia-St. Paul’s offensive attack has been extremely balanced with six different players at least averaging 8.3 points per contest. Junior guard Cole Olstad is averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game.

The Golden Bears are a relatively bigger team, as they have five active players who stand at least 6-foot-7 or taller, including Josh Monroy, a 7-foot-2-sophomore center.

Akeem Springs missed the Panthers last game against Oral Roberts, and if he is able to play, expect head coach Rob Jeter to use the same starting lineup he used in their first five games featuring guards Steve McWhorter, JeVon Lyle and Springs, and forwards Matt Tiby and J.J. Panoske.

This shouldn’t be a close game as Milwaukee is clearly the better team on paper. But, if they continue to struggle from the free throw line and are unable to find success in the paint offensively, this contest will be closer than expected.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *