BOWLING GREEN, KY. – Early foul trouble slowed the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team down at Western Kentucky on Wednesday evening. The Panthers suffered an 83-53 despite hanging within striking distance for most of the night.
 
The Panthers' deficit was 34-20 with four minutes to go in the first half. Wesleyan was facing a large foul discrepancy after committing eight fouls in that time to the Hilltoppers one. The Panthers worked possessions longer later in the first half and were rewarded with high percentage opportunities.
 
Evan Milligan dropped-in a three-point basket with two seconds on the clock to bring the Panthers into the locker-room trailing 41-29. Both Milligan and Bird Cardwell finished the first 20 minutes with nine points. Wesleyan held a shooting percentage near 50% in the frame, but were forced into 11 turnovers.
 
Rashiede Bell started the second half with a lay-up and suddenly Wesleyan was within 10 (41-31). A lay-up by Western was answered by Cardwell to keep the deficit at 10, but the Panthers were unable to continue to trade baskets the rest of the way.
 
A 10-2 followed the Bell lay-in, forcing Head Coach Happy Osborne to call timeout to slow the shift of momentum. Out of the timeout, the Hilltoppers lead quickly grew to 20 (53-33).
 
The Panther's deficit hovered around 20 points nearly the rest of the evening until the final five minutes. Milligan played a solid game scoring a team-high 17 points on seven of 10 shooting. Cardwell added 16 points and pulled-in six rebounds.
 
The Panthers will open the Sportscenter for the 2017-18 season on Saturday by hosting Auburn-Montgomery. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:15PM.
 
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