Elon MBB Phoenix Falls to Milwaukee on Last-Second Jumper

MILWAUKEE – Jeremy Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and drained a jumper with one second remaining and Elon University men’s basketball suffered a 72-71 defeat to Milwaukee as the Panthers erased a 19-point deficit for the victory on Sunday, Nov. 19, at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena at the Black & Gold Shootout.

BOX SCORE

Elon falls to 3-3 overall with the loss, while Milwaukee improves to 4-1 overall and claimed the Black & Gold Shootout championship after the victory. Dainan Swoopeand Brian Dawkins each earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team for their performances over the weekend.

“This is a tough pill to swallow losing in the last second,” said head coach Matt Matheny. “We did a lot of good things and we’re improving as a team. But we gave up too many offensive rebounds, including the last one with a second remaining.”

Swoope led the way with 20 points for the Phoenix, shooting 6-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range. Tyler Seibring added 12 points and Dawkins scored 11 to round out Elon’s double-digit scorers. Steven Santa Ana chipped in eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Sheldon Eberhardt dished out a team-high five assists.

Brock Stull paced Milwaukee with a game-high 21 points, which included 16 in the second half. He also dished out a team-high five assists. Bryce Nze finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. August Haas (11) and Jeremiah Bell (10) also finished with double-figure scoring numbers.

HIGHLIGHTS
Elon opened the contest on a 12-4 run which was capped off by Thompson’s three-pointer at the 15:55 mark. Milwaukee answered with a 12-5 burst over the next 3:40 to cut Elon’s lead to 17-16 with 11:53 remaining in the half.

The Phoenix jumped out to a 10-point lead, 28-18, after an 11-2 run ended with 8:28 left in the half. The initial run and 58.6 percent shooting from the floor during the entire half ignited Elon build to its largest lead of the game by 19-points in the final seconds of the first stanza. Milwaukee made the final shot of the half and Elon led by 17 at the break by a 46-29 score line.

Milwaukee chipped away at the Phoenix lead one run at a time in the second half. The Panthers opened the half with an 8-4 run and sliced Elon’s lead 50-37 at the 15:46 mark. An 11-4 burst over the next 2:52 made it a six-point Phoenix lead 54-48 after Stull’s three with 11:53 left in the half.

Swoope’s three on the next possession sparked a 7-2 run by Elon to put the Phoenix back in front by double-digits at 61-50 with 10:37 on the clock. Elon would maintain a lead by as many as nine over the next 3:02, holding a 69-60 lead with 6:23 remaining.

The Panthers would begin its final run, which started two Haas free throws with 6:01 remaining. Elon did not make a field goal over the final 6:23 of the game during Milwaukee’s final 12-2 run.

After a Santa Ana free throw put Elon up 71-66 with 2:59 remaining, Bryce Barnes made a triple to make it a two-point ball game with 56 seconds to play. Milwaukee then forced Elon to commit a shot clock violation and the Panthers got the ball back with 24.2 seconds on the clock.

Bryce Barnes split a pair of free throws for Milwaukee with 13.5 second on the clock to make it a one-point game, but Santa Ana turned the ball over to give the Panthers the ball back with 8.3 ticks on the game clock.

Johnson would grab the offensive rebound on Jeremiah Bell’s missed jumper and drain the game-winning shot, leaving one second on the clock. Dawkins’ final heave from half court didn’t fall, securing Milwaukee’s come-from-behind victory.

NOTES
– Swoope scored 20 points for the Phoenix, his third consecutive 20+ point game. He averaged 23.7 points per game during the Black & Gold Shootout.
– Dawkins and Swoope each earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for their efforts during the weekend tournament.
– Elon shot 58.6 percent in the first half and had just three turnovers, but Milwaukee limited the Phoenix to 38.1 percent shooting in the second half and forced Elon to commit nine turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
– Milwaukee held the edge 41-35 in rebounds, including a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Alumni Gym on Wednesday, Nov. 22, to host Radford at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on Phoenix All-Access and the Elon IMG Sports Network.