Milwaukee City Wire

In a tightly contested game at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the Milwaukee men's basketball team fell to Oakland with a final score of 83-76 in the title game of the 2024 Barbasol Horizon League Championship. The match saw nine ties and ten lead changes, with both teams remaining within three points of each other for over 31 minutes.

Milwaukee's head coach Bart Lundy commented on the game, saying, "We battled – I thought it was a great college basketball game." He acknowledged Oakland's strong performance, particularly that of Trey Townsend. "We had no answer for (Trey) Townsend," Lundy admitted.

Oakland secured their first-ever Horizon League title by scoring four consecutive points after being tied at 70-all and successfully making 11 out of 12 free throws in the final moments. Lundy praised Oakland's preparation and coaching: "Coach Kampe deserves a ton of credit."

Erik Pratt led Milwaukee's offense with 16 points, while Kentrell Pullian added 15 points. BJ Freeman contributed 14 points, and Langston Wilson scored ten points with six rebounds.

Despite the loss, Lundy highlighted Milwaukee's achievements: "For us, we won 20 games again for the second year in a row." He expressed pride in representing Milwaukee but emphasized their goal to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Trey Townsend was pivotal for Oakland, scoring a career-high 38 points and earning Tournament MVP honors. His performance helped Oakland secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

Milwaukee briefly took leads during the game but ultimately could not overcome Oakland's late-game execution. Both teams finished shooting just under 44 percent from the floor.

BJ Freeman ended his streak of scoring over 20 points per game but set a new Horizon League postseason record with 103 total points across four games. This season marked Milwaukee's back-to-back 20-win seasons under Coach Lundy, achieving this feat for the first time since Bruce Pearl's tenure.

The Barbasol #HLMBB Championship All-Tournament Team included Trey Townsend as Valeo MVP alongside Jack Gohlke from Oakland and Faizon Fields and BJ Freeman from Milwaukee.