The Green Bay Phoenix battled hard on the road Thursday night, but came up just short in an 83-76 loss to the Buffalo Bulls. Despite the defeat, redshirt-freshman guard Caden Wilkins turned in a breakout performance, pouring in a career-high 22 points, including 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
Wilkins, a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, hit his long-ball rhythm early and often, giving the Phoenix a spark the team needed in the tightly contested matchup. He was joined in double figures by senior forward Marcus Hall (16 points, 7 assists) and sophomore guard Dontrell Hewlett (13 points, 4 assists off the bench).
Green Bay fell behind early, trailing 20-14 before mounting a brief rally that pulled them within one at 20-19 midway through the first half. At halftime, the Bulls held a 32-28 lead. Buffalo then expanded the margin after the break, building a 44-37 edge. Still, the Phoenix weren’t done. Wilkins knocked down three straight threes to put Green Bay ahead 46-44 with 12:46 remaining. That lead marked the high-point of Green Bay’s push. Buffalo countered with a 9-2 run, regained control, and extended the advantage to 72-61 with 3:13 left in the game. From there Buffalo closed it out, finishing the game on top 83-76…