Leathernecks jump out front early

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois hit 10 three-pointers in building an insurmountable halftime lead, handing the UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team a 90-69 loss Saturday night at Western Hall.

The Panthers (6-4) were playing shorthanded with Brock Stull not even making the trip and another regular starter under the weather.

The Leathernecks (7-2) spent most of the night red-hot from long distance, eventually finishing 16 of 26 (61.5%).

Jeremiah Bell led the Panthers with 21 points, setting a new season-high for the second straight contest.

Jeremy Johnson was also in double figures for UWM, netting 10 points and grabbing five rebounds.

Kobe Webster led Western Illinois with 21 points, one of five players in double figures, helping the team improve to 6-1 at home. Brandon Gilbeck had 17 points and 13 boards.

Up 28 at the break, the Leathernecks kept firing, with a deep, desperation three at the shot-clock buzzer going in to make it 62-29. The lead grew to 71-36 with just under 15 minutes to play.

The Panthers never gave in, however, battling back to down 21 but simply ran out of time.

The first half started rough and got uglier from there. Western Illinois jumped ahead after making four threes to extend its advantage to 14-4, forcing a UWM timeout in the process.

Bell had a quick answer, swishing three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to force the Leathernecks to take a timeout as well at 14-10.

That was as close as the Panthers could pull in the opening 20 minutes. By half, the home team had connected on 10 triples – on 16 attempts – to build a 53-25 advantage.

Milwaukee shot 39.7% (27 of 68) from the floor. The Leathernecks, one of the best-shooting teams in the NCAA (28th coming in), finished at 58.5% (31 of 53).