To say a lot has gone wrong with this year’s Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball team would be an understatement. Injuries galore, electrical issues at the arena, and a snow plow backing into the head coach’s car are just some of the tribulations this team has faced.
On Thursday night however, none of this mattered. At least, not for 40 minutes. Instead, it was a green track suit and a young team with a lot of fight, as the Phoenix took down Detroit Mercy, 76-71, for Green Bay’s second conference win of the season.
For the people walking into the Resch, it certainly could have felt like another one of “those games.” The team devastated by injuries, had 8 available players, with Preston Ruedinger now added to the growing list of guys in street clothes.
The Phoenix started one of its youngest lineups to date, with 4 freshman, and Marcus Hall in the lineup. Green Bay got a defensive stop off the opening tip, and started the game with a lead as Jeremiah Johnson scored the opening points on a layup. Points in the early going would be harder to come by, as Green Bay held a 8-5 lead off a Hall three at the first media break. Detroit Mercy was able to battle back and tie things at 14-14 heading into the next media break, thanks to an uncharacteristic three-point shooting performance. The Titans managed to grab the lead, building it as high as 10 points before the final media stoppage of the first half. Over the final 3:46 of the period, Green Bay held Detroit to just one made basket, a triple by Chase Kuiper. Over that time, the Phoenix stormed back into the game, powered by Johnson, Hall and Mac Wreck. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Detroit Mercy lead was down to 33-30.
Detroit Mercy briefly extended the lead back to a two possession advantage as the teams came out of the locker rooms, courtesy of an Orlando Lovejoy jumper. Ben Tweedy was able to snag an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession, earn and convert an And 1 to cut back into the deficit. Green Bay was able to later grab the lead back, as the elder statesman of the team, Ryan Wade sank a trey, putting the Phoenix up 39-37. The Titans responded with tying the game on the following possession and grabbing the lead back on the next with another Kuiper three. Green Bay got another surge as Johnson splashed a triple, which was followed by a Tweedy layup to put the Phoenix back in front.
A TJ Nadeau And-1 would give Detroit Mercy the advantage one more time before the lead changed hands for good. Wade hit a three-pointer and grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, which led to a Johnson layup to give Green Bay breathing room. Detroit Mercy would knock on the door, keeping the game close, but each Titans rally had an immediate answer from the Phoenix. Even in the final minute, Detroit Mercy was able to close the deficit to 2, but the Phoenix sank clutch free throws to try to salt the game away.
With 0:32 remaining in the game, a rare missed free throw by the 14th-best free throw shooting team in the country almost led to disaster. Hall missed the back end of his trip to the line with just a single possession lead at 68-65, but after some jostling for the ball and a diving effort by CJ O’Hara to secure his 5th offensive rebound of the game, the Phoenix were able to corral the loose ball, draw the foul and put the game away for Green Bay, as the team made its final 8 straight shots at the stripe.
Five Phoenix players finished in double figures in the win, led by Johnson with 20, with Hall adding 14, 13 from Tweedy, 12 from Wrecke, and 11 from O’Hara. As a team, Green Bay made 30 of 39 (77%) free throws, compared to just 7-14 for the Titans.
The Phoenix are back home for Senior Day on Saturday evening, hosting the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Resch Center. In his postgame press conference, Gottlieb made mention that Anthony Roy’s availability for Senior Day will be up to him, if he’s comfortable to come back after his lower body injury that has kept him out since December. You can see his full comments in the link below.
