Detroit Mercy secured a 91-86 victory over the Milwaukee Panthers men’s basketball team on Friday night at Calihan Hall. The Titans sealed the win by converting all six of their free throw attempts in the final minute.
Stevie Elam led Milwaukee with 22 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and making four three-pointers. He also collected seven rebounds. Elam scored the last seven points for his team, including a key three-point play with under 18 seconds left that brought Milwaukee within three points at 89-86. However, Detroit Mercy responded with two more free throws to close out the game.
“I think he’s a fighter,” head coach Bart Lundy said about Elam. “He kept coming. Didn’t play as well early; had all his people here and had a great second half. He made all those plays down the stretch to keep us close.”
Chandler Jackson contributed 13 points off the bench, while Amar Augillard added 12 points along with two steals and two blocks for Milwaukee.
Detroit Mercy was led by TJ Nadeau’s 25 points, Orlando Lovejoy’s 24—22 of which came in the second half—and Legend Geeter’s 19 points. The Titans reached a .500 record this late in a season for the first time since 2021-22.
“They made the free throws when they needed to,” Lundy said. “It was a great game and a great atmosphere … give them credit. At the very end of the first half, I thought they got a little momentum, and we knew coming out in the second half that (Orlando) Lovejoy would try to take the game over and, credit to him, he played a heck of a second half.”
The Panthers built their largest lead at nine just before halftime but were overtaken after several scoring runs by Detroit Mercy in the second half. Despite drawing within two late in regulation after an eight-point run capped by an Elam three-pointer, Milwaukee could not regain control.
Lundy credited Detroit’s players for exploiting matchups: “I think that was Lovejoy and Jeeter,” he said regarding Detroit’s key run. “They picked on matchups and they got Lovejoy to his spots. We tried different matchups and he went at every one that we had.”
Milwaukee finished shooting just over 50 percent from the field but struggled at the free throw line, converting only nine of nineteen attempts compared to Detroit’s twenty-one of twenty-six.
The Panthers men’s basketball team represents University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee athletics and competes in NCAA Division I as part of the Horizon League. The program is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin according to its official website.
Milwaukee will conclude its road trip Sunday against Oakland University.
