The Raiders (11-8, 4-4) went 2-0 on their late-week trip to Wisconsin to stay on the edge of the league race. Milwaukee (12-6, 6-2) fell into a first-place tie with Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State.
“We got ourselves back in this deal tonight,” Raiders coach Scott Nagy said in postgame radio interview. “Obviously they feel pretty good about themselves. Now they’ve got to go home and start taking care of their home business.”
The Raiders are 3-1 on the road in league play and 1-3 at home. They play their next four games at home against Purdue Fort Wayne, Cleveland State, Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Calvin and Brandon Noel finished with 23 points apiece, and Noel, a redshirt freshman, missed a fifth straight double-double by one rebound.
“Let’s face it, he’s growing up right in front of us,” Nagy said of Noel. “And we’re obviously very proud of him.”
The Raiders turned a 32-32 halftime score into a 56-40 lead midway through the second half. But giving up offensive rebounds and seeing their turnover total rise to 19 allowed Milwaukee to rally. Markeith Browning’s three-point play tied the score at 69 with 1:08 left.
The Raiders’ Tim Finke missed a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 42 seconds left. Noel blocked a Milwuakee shot with 14 seconds left, then the Panthers missed inside with nine seconds left. The rebound ended up with Calvin underneath the basket but he lost the ball out of bounds against a double-team with 3.2 seconds left.
Finke tipped the inbounds pass and Calvin knocked the ball into the backcourt to send the game to overtime.
“We gave it up and it didn’t look good, and they just kept fighting,” Nagy said. “Obviously, what’s the coach going to say? You’re super proud of your kids.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Fort Wayne at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980
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