The 3rd Man In

Panthers shoot lights out in win

It was a sloppy performance, but the Milwaukee Panthers were able to escape with the win. The game came down to the wire, but the Panthers (7-2) were able to knock off the UMKC Kangaroos (1-5) by a score of 84-79.

Jordan Aaron led the way for the Panthers as he scored 33 points, as Kyle Kelm added 13 and Matt Tiby scored 12. Milwaukee shot 65 percent (26-40) from the field, including 53.3 percent (8-15) from three-point territory.

Although the Panthers did an excellent job making a high percentage of their shots they did not play a fundamentally sound game. They turned the ball over 19 times, while committing 23 fouls. Tiby also fouled out of the game for the second time this season as he recorded his fifth foul with less than a minute remaining.

Milwaukee led for most of the first half, as they only trailed for a little more than two minutes. With 1:15 remaining in the first half, they were even able to extend their lead to 17 points on a made three pointer by Aaron. They shot lights out from the field (71.4%) and from behind the arc (75%) as they went into halftime leading 41-29 over the Kangaroos.

Once the second half began the Panthers continued to hold the lead, but with 16:05 remaining, the Kangaroos cut their deficit to one. The game then went back and forth, as UMKC even jumped out to the lead with 6:17 remaining.

Then for about the next four minutes UMKC held the lead until Tiby made two free throws to put Milwaukee back on top.

The Panthers were able to hold onto the lead for the final 2:45 remaining in the game, as they went 8-10 at the free throw line down the stretch.

Milwaukee held the slight advantage in rebounds over UMKC (23-22), but the story of the game was the amount of fouls called as both teams combined for a total of 53 personal fouls. The Panthers also did a better job from the charity strip as they made 70.6 percent of their attempts, while the Kangaroos only made 59.3 percent.

Based on the shooting percentages, fans would have expected this game to be a fun atmosphere, but the fouls and turnovers dampened the mood. It was a solid shooting night for Milwaukee, but the Panthers will need to play better fundamentally in their next game if they want to have a chance to win.

On Tuesday the Milwaukee Panthers will return home to face Northern Iowa at the U.S. Cellular Arena, with the tip set for 7 p.m. CT.

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