Green Bay Completes Season Sweep over Milwaukee

ASHWAUBENON, Wis.–

Rivalry games are the best at any level of competition; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Rivalries are made up of interesting pasts, fierce and full of hatred, bad memories, and some good ones. With all that being said, Green Bay had a bad memory in mind after being eliminated from the Horizon League tournament by the Panthers last season.

They got their first chance at revenge early last month, traveling to Milwaukee and taking a statement-making 13-point win. Keifer Sykes led the way, tying his career-high at 34 points. Both times he’s scored 34 points has been at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Chance number two came this past Thursday at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, the place where the Panthers knocked off the Phoenix en route to the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix remembered that, taking a demanding lead right from the get-go, which was up to 31 points at a point in the game.

Keifer Sykes only scored ten points and had four fouls in the Phoenix’s

“We have to do a better job of getting in defensive position,” Sykes said after the game. “We can’t get in a position where the refs can call those fouls.”

That allowed Milwaukee to make it an 11 point game when things were said and done. Alfonzo McKinnie’s career-high 23 points, along with his 10 rebounds, led Green Bay past Milwaukee, completing the sweep.

“It’s one game at a time. It’s great whenever you sweep someone, because that means you won on the road,” Phoenix head coach Brian Wardle told me after the game, “It’s hard to win on the road.”

It is tough to win on the road, indeed. The Phoenix are a perfect 11-0 at home this season, including 5-0 in conference play, but the Phoenix are only 3-2 on the road when playing within the conference. The magic number to win the conference last season? Fourteen wins, two losses. Green Bay has the two losses and are currently in a three-way tie with Cleveland State, who beat the Phoenix, and Valparaiso, who the Phoenix beat, atop the Horizon League.

The Phoenix will head to Youngstown State and Valparaiso next week, before returning home to host Detroit and Cleveland State.

~Alex Strouf (@LetsGoAlex)