The Green Bay Phoenix fought to a loss against the Milwaukee Panthers, snapping a three-game winning streak in dramatic fashion following a massive comeback.
Green Bay began the first-half of play with a solid 31-point scoring effort that gave the team a lead heading into the break. The Phoenix got off to a slow start in the second-half of play however and a back-and-forth battle between the two teams ensued. A 50-point second-half was enough to propel the Panthers ahead of the Phoenix in regulation for a seventh conference win.
Marcus Hall led the Phoenix with 32 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds and an assist. The new career-high for the junior forward was a beautiful performance but unfortunately not enough to help push Green Bay into the lead before the final buzzer.
Despite the Panthers pulling off a strong win on paper, Green Bay Head Coach Doug Gottlieb had far different feelings regarding the outcome of the game. The contest delivered a handful of gritty plays that resulted in fouls for both teams but many calls stood out to Gottlieb, who made his feelings known during a fiery post-game rant.
UWGB Phoenix Head Coach Doug Gottlieb: ‘All We Ask is That There is a Fair Game’
Following the loss the coach opened his time with the media by stating, “I need the [Horizon League] to explain to me why I got a technical foul when I did not curse, I was not demonstrative, I did not leave my box.” Gottlieb was handed a technical foul after questioning a call on the floor, which he also addressed separately later during his media availability.
“All we ask is that there is a fair game, that is all we ask. CJ O’Hara goes and gets an offensive rebound, a player dives at his knees, and CJ gets called for a foul,” stated Gottlieb.
Gottlieb then called out Donnie Eppley, director of the officiating crews for the Horizon League, and the Horizon League officials stating, “I need Donnie at the league and the new commissioner to explain to me the disparity in the officiating, that is what I need explained to me. I’ve got no problem with [Milwaukee] they played hard, they did what they always do.”
The coach later emphatically slammed the table during his rant which was later clipped and shared around social media as the viral portion of his time with the media.
Full video with better quality of Doug Gottlieb’s postgame rant: pic.twitter.com/MuaNWITozv
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) February 16, 2026
Unfortunately for Gottlieb and the Phoenix, the post-game rant is just the most recent incident that is a part of a growing list. Gottlieb landed himself on ESPN earlier in the season after an 80-78 loss to Robert Morris that the coach called “embarrassing” got the best of him. The coach was filmed throwing a chair at a wall in the tunnel after exiting the court following the loss. Gottlieb also went on to say that his team “played like idiots” during the loss.
Green Bay is back in action after a short break on February 20th in California against the hosting Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Green Bay and Oakland are currently right beside each other in the Horizon League standings and a win for the Phoenix would go a long way with limited time left in the regular season.
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