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Bucks edge 76ers

Mar 6, 2012 - 5:48 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Brandon Jennings dropped in a game-high 33 points and dished out seven assists as the Milwaukee Bucks survived a fourth- quarter rally to escape with a 97-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday at Bradley Center.

Drew Gooden netted 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Ersan Ilyasova finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds for the Bucks, who snapped their three-game skid. Mike Dunleavy donated 10 points in the victory.

"They took a nine-point lead there in the third, but we kept our composure down the stretch and showed enough toughness to close out the win," said Gooden.

Lou Williams paced the Sixers with a season-high 26 points and Andre Iguodala added 16 points and five assists. Thaddeus Young finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Jodie Meeks contributed 13 points off the bench.

Evan Turner grabbed a season-high 12 boards in his first start of the season for the Sixers, who have lost two straight and just can't seem to find the late-game magic needed to win close games.

Philadelphia fell to 2-8 this season in games decided by five points or less.

Trailing by a score of 87-76 with 6:31 to play, the Sixers mounted a furious rally to get back into the game. Philadelphia ripped off a 17-6 burst to tie the game at 93 with 1:11 to go.

Williams netted 13 points during the run and capped it with three from the foul line.

Beno Udrih answered with a jumper at the other end to give the Bucks a 95-93 lead with 58 seconds to go.

After a Williams miss, Gooden missed at the other end and Young came down with the rebound with 29 seconds left.

Williams got the last shot for the Sixers with seven seconds to play, but he missed a floater and then Young missed a put-back attempt before Dunleavy came down with the rebound.

Ilyasova sank two free throws to seal the win for the Bucks.

The Bucks had the edge in the early going, opening the contest by outscoring the Sixers, 12-6, through the first six minutes of play.

Nikola Vucevic put home a layup to cut the Bucks advantage to three, but Jennings capped a 6-0 run with a three-pointer to extend the lead to 19-10 with 6:11 to play in the first quarter.

Trailing, 20-12, the Sixers responded with a 15-2 run to take a 27-22 lead with 2:26 left in the quarter and they led 33-28 after one.

Meeks drained a three-pointer early in the second quarter to give the Sixers their first double-digit lead of the game at 43-33, but Milwaukee responded with a 16-8 flurry to cut the deficit to two, 51-49 with 1:52 to go before the break. Philadelphia led 55-51 heading into the third quarter.

"I thought we played fatigued," Sixers head coach Doug Collins said. "I thought the turning point was the beginning of the third quarter. We had a chance to go up 12, 13, 15 points on them, but we couldn't make a shot."

A slam by Young put the Sixers up 69-61 with 3:53 left in the third stanza, but the Bucks responded with a 19-2 burst to take an 80-71 lead early in the final quarter.

Williams made 1-of-2 from the line to pull Philadelphia within 80-76, but Milwaukee answered with seven straight points to extend the advantage to 11.

Game Notes

The Sixers fell to 7-4 in the second leg of back-to-back games this season...Philadelphia shot just 13-of-49 in the second half and finished shooting just 37 percent overall...The Sixers also struggled from the charity stripe, hitting just 16-of-23 attempts...The Bucks put home 21 second-chance points and netted 21 points on the fast break, while holding the Sixers to just six points on the run.