UW-Milwaukee comes up short against Cleveland State in a wild finish

In a season already defined by aggravation and adversity, UW-Milwaukee's 90-88 loss to Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 1, most certainly took the cake.

The Panthers came roaring back from a 12-point deficit midway through the second half to tie the game on a desperation 3-pointer by Josh Dixon with 2.4 seconds remaining, only for all that momentum to fizzle away in the blink of an eye at UWM Panther Arena.

First, Chandler Jackson was called for a foul on the ensuing inbounds play, leading to the eventual game-clinching free throws for the Vikings. Then, Stevie Elam appeared to be fouled on the other end, keeping him from being able to get off a potential tying shot, only for no whistle to be blown.

More frustration. Another loss. And no choice but to accept it and move onto the next one.

"I'm pretty frustrated," said coach Bart Lundy after the game in maybe the understatement of his four-year tenure at UWM, with myriad injuries undercutting what was supposed to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber squad. "Maybe because of the loss. But we gave up 90. They ran a few different things, but the same stuff all game, and it was mistake after mistake after mistake (defensively).

"And that's frustrating. Every time we made a run or we got close we made some mistakes that you just can't make. I think we're playing hard, but we're not playing with any consistency and we're not playing very intelligently.

"And I don't know what we have to do to have them (do that)."

Box score

It appeared as though Cleveland State (9-14, 5-7) was going to run away and hide from UWM (9-15, 5-8 Horizon League) after taking a 66-54 lead with 10 minutes 54 seconds left, only for the Panthers to rattle of 11 of the next 13 points to make it a one-possession game.

Neither team could string together stops defensively from there, with the Panthers scoring on seven straight possessions and the Vikings on six, with a 3-pointer from Josiah Harris with 2:09 remaining making it an 86-80 game.

An Elam three on the other end made it 86-83, then Dayan Nessah hit a pair of free throws to set the stage for the wild final few plays.

The craziness began when, after a long officials' review, Harris was whistled for a flagrant foul for elbowing Dixon in the face following a miss by Jackson. Dixon hit both his free throws, then on the ensuing possession he let loose a sprawling 3-point attempt from the right wing that somehow found the net and make it 88-all.

At that point all the Panthers needed to do was make sure the Vikings didn't somehow get the ball quickly past midcourt for a good look at the basket and reset for overtime.

But after the ball was inbounded to Jaidon Lipscomb some 60 feet away, Jackson committed a foul from behind that seemed to indicate he didn't realize the score was tied at that point.

Replays showed Jackson grabbing his head in disbelief after the fact, and Lipscomb calmly hit both free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining.

"I was blocked. I couldn't see if he fouled or didn't foul," Lundy said. "The staff said that he got beat off the bounce and put two hands on him, so I don't know if it was enough to call a foul.

"Looking at the film I hope I see a lot, because in that situation where all the kid had was a heave it better be a pretty clear foul. Obviously, we wouldn't want to foul in that situation.

"We explained it to them (during the review)."

UWM still had one last gasp and it came in the form of a baseball pass from Jackson on the baseline finding its way to Elam near the opposite free-throw line.

The freshman guard made a terrific leaping attempt to catch the ball with Nessah making contact as he defended, but no foul was called and time expired as the ball bounced out of bounds.

Elam had to be restrained by a teammate on the bench as he shot toward the official, angry about the no-call while the crowd of 2,017 vociferously voiced its collective displeasure at the same time.

"We tried to throw it through Aaron Franklin's hands – kind of a trick play – and have Stevie get it," said Lundy. "Stevie went up and I thought he did kind of get undercut. I'll have to watch the replay to be able to tell."

UWM, which never led, got superlative performances from several players, with Elam finishing with a team- and career-high 21 points keyed by 5-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc.

Dixon finished with 19 points, canning three of four 3-pointers, and Jackson had 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Franklin, meanwhile, came oh so close to posting the Panthers' first triple-double since BJ Freeman in 2023 with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 39 minutes of action.

"That's a guy who missed all of the summer with a serious foot problem, all fall, probably started the season more like our 11th or 12th man," said Lundy. "He's every day in practice. He's given everything he's got. Every play in the games, every scouting report, film session – he's given everything he's got.

"He is a guy that deserves some praise."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee comes up short against Cleveland State in a wild finish