MILWAUKEE (3/1/2025) – Freshman
TJ Nadeau scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but Detroit Mercy was on the losing end at Milwaukee on Saturday, falling 89-67 in the #HLMBB regular season finale.
Freshman Nate Johnson netted 13 points and pulled down five rebounds, while senior Mak Manciel added 10 points. Graduate student Emmanuel Kuac also had 10 points along with 10 rebounds and three blocks as he registered his first career double-double. Junior Orlando Lovejoy chipped in 8 points and dished out four assists.
After Detroit Mercy (8-23, 4-16 HL) scored the game's opening basket, the host Panthers (21-10, 14-6 HL) responded with a 10-0 run to take a lead they never relinquished.
The Titans tried to fight their way back into the contest, eventually cutting the deficit to just 10 with 12:19 remaining, but they were unable to get any closer.
After falling behind 10-2 early on, the Titans fought back to make it 12-7. Milwaukee responded however with a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 19-7 with 13:53 remaining in the first half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Johnson and Kuac got the Titans to within seven in the first half, but the Panthers held firm and took a 43-31 lead into the halftime break.
At the half Kuac led UDM with 8 points and six boards while Johnson and Manciel had 7 points each. As a team the Titans were 12-of-24 (50%) from the field in the opening half and 5-of-12 (41.7%) from three-point range.
In the second half, the Titans tried to mount a comeback. The Panthers took their largest lead of the game early in the second half when they went ahead by 16 with 18:18 left in regulation.
UDM refused to back down however, and got to within 10 with 12:19 left following a Panther technical foul. After a pair of free throws from both Nadeau and Johnson, the Titans trailed 60-50.
That was the closest Detroit Mercy got however, as Milwaukee refused to let the Titans gain anymore momentum and get back in the game.
A nice moment occurred in the final seconds of the game as junior and Milwaukee native Duane Rogers III scored the Titans final point with a free throw.
Overall the Titans were 25-of-52 (48.1%) from the field, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from three, and 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the free throw line. The Titans outrebounded the Panthers 31-29. Nadeau scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half.
Detroit Mercy will be the No. 10 seed in the Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships beginning Tuesday. The Titans will be on the road at Northern Kentucky or Oakland at 7 p.m. depending on the results of tonight's Oakland-Green Bay match-up.
