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Ellis leads Bucks past skidding Bobcats

Apr 7, 2012 - 5:21 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Monta Ellis continued to shine in a Milwaukee uniform, scoring 25 points to lift the Bucks to a 95-90 victory over the Bobcats at Bradley Center on Friday.

Brandon Jennings added 18 points to go with nine assists, Mike Dunleavy poured in 15 points off the bench, and Ersan Ilyasova recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks, who have won five of their last six.

Milwaukee trails New York by one game for the final playoff spot in the East.

Charlotte got a career game from Byron Mullens, who scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 boards. Kemba Walker filled the stat sheet with 18 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but the Bobcats fell for the 10th time in as many contests.

"I just like the way we competed," said Bobcats head coach Paul Silas. "That's a team that really needed that game and we brought them right down to the wire and we had a chance to win."

Leading by one, Milwaukee scored the first seven of the third, and 11 of the first 13 points to take a 64-54 advantage just over four minutes into the second half.

The lead was 14 when Charlotte reeled off 10 straight points cutting the deficit to 72-68 heading into the final frame.

The Bucks came out firing again in the fourth, scoring the first six to press the lead back to double-digits.

With the lead at 10 and just over eight minutes left in the fourth, Mullens sparked a 13-2 run for the Bobcats, and Gerald Henderson capped the run with a layup to restore an 84-83 lead for the visitors.

Milwaukee countered with the next eight to press the lead to seven before four straight from the Bobcats trimmed the lead to 91-88 with 48.9 seconds left.

Ilyasova came up with a huge offensive rebound off his own miss and finished a layup in traffic to give Milwaukee a 93-88 lead with 36.9 ticks on the clock and the Bucks sealed the victory with 2-of-4 from the free throw line.

"Our preparation this morning wasn't good," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles. "We weren't good to start the game. The defense was terrible and we won. They were quicker than us most of the game, they were bigger than us most of the game, but we made enough plays to win."

The Bobcats led by as many as nine in the first, but Milwaukee scored eight of the final 11 points to pull within 30-28 heading into the second stanza.

Milwaukee took its first lead of the game early in the second, opening the quarter with four straight to pull in front 32-30.

With the difference at four, Walker buried a three-pointer and Bismack Biyombo added a layup to restore a one-point lead for the Bobcats, but the Bucks scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to take a 53-52 edge into the locker room.

Game Notes

This is the second of five straight at home for Milwaukee with games against Portland on Saturday, OKC on Monday and finally the Knicks on Wednesday...Charlotte will host Atlanta on Saturday...Charlotte remains the only team in the NBA win single-digit wins (7).