UWM Panthers Win First Game of the Season in OT

The Milwaukee Panthers men’s basketball won their first game of the season 92-87, defeating the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds in comeback fashion after forcing overtime Tuesday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

After a rough 0-4 stretch to begin the season, the Panthers battled the Blackbirds down to the wire to pickup their first win of the season. The Panthers late defensive efforts and pressure, along with the scoring of Darius Roy who led the Panthers in scoring with a game-high and career-high 27 points, ended up being the difference in the game.

Carson Warren-Newsome also ended up playing a pivotal role for the Panthers down the stretch adding a career-high 21 points, including a game-tying layup with 13 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 76. Wil Sessoms added 13 points off the bench for the Panthers, as Milwaukee’s bench outscored Brooklyn 45-8.

Panthers head coach Pat Baldwin said a lot of guys contributed and stepped-up.

“It was a great win for us tonight,” Baldwin said. “Through a lot of adversity throughout the game, for us to be down on multiple occasion maybe eight or nine points, our guys showed a lot of fight and resiliency to come back and pick up this win,”

Getting to the free throw line 41 times, allowed the Panthers to hang in the game. The relentless attack from Darius Roy and Warren-Newsome throughout the game was huge for the Panthers, as the Milwaukee duo went to the line 12 times each. 

“This was a big sigh of relief for the whole team honestly, getting that first win and building momentum for the next games to come,” Roy said.

Not even a month into the season, the Panthers were desperate to finally get into the win column.

“Every game for me is a must win,” Baldwin said. “This game was the one in front of us, we put a lot of our eggs in the basket on,”

Coach Baldwin said that the guys never gave up and continued to stick together throughout the four-game losing streak.

The Panthers cleaned up the mistakes on the offensive end in the second half, only turning the ball over one time throughout the second half and into overtime. Coach Baldwin said taking care of the basketball is something they talk all the time about.

“First of all, we talk about taking care of the basketball no matter what, and that was something we preached about at halftime,” Baldwin said.

In addition to taking care of the ball, getting to the free throw line 41 times in the game was huge, and speaks to the aggressiveness of the guys Baldwin added.

Along with the aggressiveness and scoring from Roy in the second half, the defensive pressure and effort from the Panthers late in the game ultimately forced this game into overtime. In the final minute of regulation, UWM made their final push. After a Roy made free throw, the Panthers forced a steal on the inbounds play, as Warren-Newsome capitalized off the LIU turnover, laying it in with 13 seconds remaining and trying the game at 76.

“Our defense was huge,” Baldwin said.

The junior-college transfer, Roy, has been the Panthers leading scorer this season averaging 18.2 points. The junior point guard from Lawton Oklahoma, Roy got to the charity stripe with ease in the second half. Clutch late free throws at the end of regulation and into overtime, going 11-12 from the line ended up being too much for the Blackbirds. Roy on how he felt on his performance against LIU.

“Tonight, I thought I did pretty good, as far as leading the team, hopefully it’ll carry on to the next game,” Roy said.

After all, it may not be easy at times playing for a former point guard as well, but coach Baldwin said Roy is doing a great job.

“It’s not easy playing the point at any level,” Baldwin said. “Whether it’s high school, college, even beyond that, what I’m asking of him is a lot. And he knows it. We have talks everyday whether it’s on the court, or off the court. What he needs to do as a leader at the point guard position, and how important that is for our team,”

After winning their first game of the season against LIU, the Panthers carried that momentum into their next game, winning their second straight in a row against Albany 79-70. The Panthers will have their hands full when they travel to Buffalo for their next game against the 21^st ranked Buffalo Bulls.