Jan 24, 2002
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Jermaine Robinson tossed in a season-high 17 points Thursday night but Wisconsin-Milwaukee held on for a 78-69 victory over Cleveland State at the Klotsche, giving the Panthers a fourth straight victory and a tie for first place in the Horizon League.
The Panthers improved to 11-8 overall and 6-1 in the conference to tie first-place Loyola, which was idle. UWM was led by Ronnie Jones with 26 points. Clay Tucker added 13 markers and Justin Lettenberger 12.
Jones' fourth 3-pointer of the game gave the Panthers a 53-42 lead with 12:36 remaining. The closest the Vikings got the rest of the way was six points at 59-53 on a three-point play by Jamaal Harris with 7:57 left.
Jones scored 15 points in the first half including the final basket of the period to give Milwaukee a 40-35 lead.
Robinson had eight points and a pair of assists in a 13-2 scoring spurt that put Cleveland State ahead 28-23. But Jones caught fire in the final two minutes, scoring 11 points including three 3-pointers to give the lead back to the Panthers.
Theo Dixon scored 14 points and Harris contributed 12 for the Vikings.
CSU, which entered the game shooting 61.4 percent from the charity stripe, turned in a stellar performance at the line, hitting 84.2 percent (16-of-19).
UWM outrebounded the Vikes 39-34, led by Lettenberger with nine boards. Dixon paced CSU withh eight caroms while Andre' Williams added eight.
