The 3rd Man In

Tiby continues to impress

For a second consecutive season the Milwaukee Panthers (1-1) upset the Davidson Wildcats (0-2). This year the Panthers had to face Davidson on the road, but it did not affect them at all as they walked off the court with an impressive 81-77 victory.

The Panthers were behind for most of the game, but were able to take the lead for the final three minutes after Steve McWhorter scored the go ahead basket.

Free throws were key in this game as the Panthers made an astounding 32 of 40 from the charity strip, including nine of 11 to seal the deal.

The offense performed extremely well tonight with five different players scoring in double figures. It was a team effort, but Matt Tiby made the difference in this ball game. He led the Panthers in all three major categories tonight, with 21 points, three assist and nine boards. Tiby was also money from the free throw line making 10 out of his 12 chances.

Milwaukee started off strong and had a 20-16 lead with 12:35 left in the first half, but that was when the Wildcats took over. At one point the Panthers were trailing 36-27, but were able to reduce the deficit slightly going into halftime trailing 42-35.

The Panthers were only down by five early in the second half, but the Wildcats were able to regain an impressive lead. They were up 55-44 with 14:29 left in the game, but then Panthers took control of the game. Milwaukee outscored Davidson 37-22 the rest of the way to record their first victory of the season.

Besides Tiby, the other four players to score in double digits were Steve McWhorter who had 12 points, Austin Arians and Jordan Aaron added in 11 a piece, and Kyle Kelm had 10.

Milwaukee out rebounded Davidson 38-35, while shooting 25 more free throws, and committing only 19 personal fouls compared to Davidson’s 26.

The Panthers will need to continue to improve on their three point shooting (3-17 for 17.6% tonight) and turnovers (14). While their turnovers went down compared to last Friday’s game against Loyola, 14 turnovers are still a little too much, but with more experience and time together on the floor, fans should expect the turnovers to continue to go down.

There are still areas the Milwaukee Panthers can continue to improve on, but tonight’s win over Davidson shows that this is a team to keep your eyes on. Matt Tiby is a special player, and with him continuing to lead the Panthers, they will make some noise this season.

Up next, Milwaukee will hit the road as they play in the Northern Illinois University Invitational this weekend. They will play San Jose State, James Madison, and Northern Illinois over the three days starting on Friday.

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