UWM 72, Elon 71: Crazy comeback caps memorable week

Todd Rosiak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
UWM's Jeremiah Bell goes up for two of his 10 points Sunday against Elon in the Black & Gold Shootout.

An eventful week came to a memorable and satisfying end for the UW-Milwaukee Panthers on Sunday.

Jeremy Johnson's offensive rebound and jumper with 1 second remaining capped a crazy comeback and lifted UWM to an inspired 72-71 victory over Elon in the final game of the Black & Gold Shootout at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Panthers trailed by 19 points late in the first half but regained their footing in the second half thanks to some hard-nosed defense, timely offense and a few key in-game adjustments by coach Pat Baldwin.

BOX SCORE: UWM 72, Elon 71

As a result, they finished their own tournament with a 2-1 record and feeling much better about themselves than they had been on Friday night after dropping their opener to Division II Concordia-St. Paul in ugly fashion.

Making that loss even more confounding was the fact UWM had drubbed Iowa State, 74-56, on its own court just four days earlier.

"Give our guys a lot of credit – they have a lot of resiliency, a lot of resolve and patience with me, because at times I'm extremely fiery and competitive, and I want our guys to respond exactly how I would," said Baldwin.

"It's a testament to their strength as a team and as a unit. They're great guys and they care about each other on and off the court, and I think that kind of helps in situations like this, when you need to come together."

That UWM (4-1) was even in a position to win the game was a nod to its defense down the stretch, as it held Elon without a field goal and just two free throws over the final 6 minutes 20 seconds.

After August Haas's three cut it to 71-69 with 55.1 seconds remaining, the Panthers forced the Phoenix into a shot-clock violation. Bryce Barnes was fouled on a drive to the hoop on the other end with 13.5 seconds left, and he split the free throws to make it 71-70.

On the ensuing inbounds play, UWM's patience in trapping paid off as it forced another turnover and earned a chance to win the game.

"They executed all the things that we talked about in a short period of time," Baldwin said. "We wanted to try and get a quick trap, and luckily they turned the ball over."

The Panthers' initial opportunity wasn't a great one – an off-balance, fall-away jumper from the top of the key by Jeremiah Bell. But Johnson was in the right place at the right time, and he calmly drained the decisive shot from about 15 feet out.

"I just saw it come off a little short and I got in there, got the rebound and put it back in," said Johnson. "There was nothing that special to it; just another play and it happened to go in."

Brock Stull scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help key the comeback, which was UWM's largest since Nov. 15, 2008, when it beat UC-Davis after trailing by 24.

Bryce Nze added 14 points and 12 rebounds, Haas 11 points and Bell 10, with Stull, Nze and Haas earning all-tournament honors along with Elon's Dainan Swoope and Brian Dawkins.

The Panthers couldn't have been any flatter in the opening 20 minutes, with the Phoenix running a virtual offensive clinic and getting open shot after open shot from the perimeter.

With the game tied at 14-14, Elon knocked down five consecutive three-pointers to spark a 19-6 run that gave it a 33-20 lead with 7 minutes 20 seconds remaining in the first half.

By intermission, the bulge had grown to 46-29, with Elon having hit 8 of 12 threes (66.7%) and shot 58.6% from the floor overall.

"Coach just brought us in at halftime, made sure we had our composure and let us know we're not out of this game – we're going to get back into it, but it's going to take some grit," Johnson said.

"So we just focused in on what he was saying and the game plan, and got back in it."

With consecutive threes from Stull and Johnson kicking off the effort, the Panthers began chipping away at the deficit while also going smaller and switching on ball screens on the other end to slow down Elon's three-point attack.

A pair of free throws by Bell cut it to single digits with 12:20 left, and a Stull three on the next possession – his third of the half – got UWM to within 54-48 and energized the crowd of 1,013.

Elon had stretched its lead back out to eight before a 7-1 run pulled the Panthers to within 71-69. Haas scored five of the seven, with his three from the left corner making it a one-possession game.

Florida International 77, Concordia-St. Paul 67: Trejon Jacob's 23 points were the difference as the Panthers avoided an 0-3 tournament showing.