BJ Freeman scores CBI-record 43 points, Milwaukee denies Stetson 1st D-I postseason win

DAYTONA BEACH — BJ Freeman's record-breaking night kept Milwaukee's turnaround season alive for another day, and provided a valuable lesson for a Stetson team craving tournament success.

Freeman scored a career-high 43 points, the most in College Basketball Invitational history and the first 40-point performance for the Panthers in two decades, to lead Milwaukee to an 87-83 overtime win over the Hatters Sunday evening at the Ocean Center. Milwaukee (22-11) advances to face third-seeded Charlotte in a quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Stetson (17-14) lost its third consecutive game, a sour note to an otherwise memorable campaign. The Hatters won their most overall games since 2000-01, and their most conference games (12) since 1986-87.

"We had a chance, but we missed some free throws, didn't score there and get some stops — a lot of little things down the stretch," Hatters coach Donnie Jones said.

The Hatters, who led by as many as nine in the second half, missed eight of their final nine shots from the field. Freeman, meanwhile, sunk 10 of 20 buckets from the floor and went 20 of 22 from the free throw line, the last of which made padded the Panthers' lead to a two-possession margin with 15.3 seconds left.

"He did have a special game, and we needed every bit of it," said Bart Lundy on the one-year anniversary of his hiring as Milwaukee's coach. "They were box-and-1 a good bit of that second half, and he was able to make play after play. BJ is a special player and he's really given his heart and soul to us."

Jalen Blackmon paced Stetson with 22 points, and Stephan Swenson chipped in 20 points with four assists. Mahamadou Diawara shined off the bench before fouling out in overtime, providing 18 points and 20 rebounds — including a dozen on the offensive glass.

Diawara stepped up in the absence of Josh Smith, who landed awkwardly and sustained a knee injury less than four minutes into the contest. Stetson also played without its third-leading scorer, Luke Brown, who Jones said post-game was no longer part of the program.

Brown, a sophomore from Carmel, Ind., averaged 10.2 points per game and shot 46.2% from 3-point range.

Assuming there are no other sudden departures, Stetson appears well suited to contend for an elusive ASUN title next winter. Blackmon was the league's Newcomer of the Year and a first-team selection, while Swenson earned third-team honors.

"Hopefully we can build from this," Jones said. "I think our culture really changed. We added some pieces, and we'll still going to add some more pieces for the following year.

"These guys coming back, at least, have experience and hopefully an expectation to go from this to being able to play in the postseason."

CBI first round results

Saturday

(1) Indiana State 67, (16) USC Upstate 62

(4) Southern Utah 72, (13) North Alabama 50

(2) San Jose State 77, (15) Southern Indiana 52

(3) Charlotte 65, (14) Western Carolina 56

Sunday

(8) Eastern Kentucky 91, (9) Cleveland State 75

(12) Rice 84, (5) Duquesne 78

(10) Radford 72, (7) Tarleton State 70, OT

(11) Milwaukee 87, (6) Stetson 83, OT

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NCAA men's basketball: Milwaukee defeats Stetson in CBI tournament