Bucks win 98-94 to snap 26-year drought in Phoenix

[January 18, 2013]  PHOENIX (AP) -- Mike Dunleavy hit a 3-pointer with 57.4 seconds left to cap a 10-0 run and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away to beat the Suns 98-94 on Thursday night, snapping a 24-game losing streak in Phoenix.

Monta Ellis scored 24 points and Larry Sanders added 19, while Dunleavy and Brandon Jennings had 16 apiece for the Bucks, who had not won in the Valley since Feb. 21, 1987, at the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Milwaukee has won four of six since interim coach Jim Boylan replaced Scott Skiles on Jan. 8.

Shannon Brown scored 20 points off the bench and Luis Scola added 16 for the Suns, who have lost four straight at home for the first time since 2004 and have dropped 13 of 15 overall.

Markieff Morris' driving layup with 3:41 remaining gave the Suns an 86-84 lead.

Ellis tied the game on a 20-foot jumper and, after Morris bounced a dunk attempt off the rim, Sanders scored on a pick-and-roll to give the Bucks the lead for good, 88-86, with 2:35 left.

Jennings added a free throw, then stopped on a fast break 10 feet from the basket and scooped the ball in with a finger roll ahead of Dunleavy's 3-pointer for a 94-86 lead.

Milwaukee took a 12-point lead on a 3 by Dunleavy with 6:44 left in the first half. But Brown scored nine points to spark a 15-5 run as the Suns tied the game 48-all on their way to a 56-53 lead.

Phoenix continued to roll at the start of the second half, scoring the first seven points to extend their scoring run to 13-0 over a span of 4 minutes across the second and third periods, and led 63-53 on P.J. Tucker's 3-pointer with 8:27 left in the third.

Another 3 by Dunleavy tied it at 80 with 8:25 to play.

NOTES: One game after logging more than 40 minutes, Suns big man Marcin Gortat was limited by early foul trouble to seven points and five rebounds over 29 minutes. . Dunleavy added three of the Bucks' 11 blocked shots. . Jennings has scored 53 points in his past two games against Phoenix after scoring 30 points in his first four appearances against the Suns. . Thirteen of the 30 players on the two rosters had not yet been born when the Bucks won 115-107 in Phoenix 26 years ago. The longest current such streak is San Antonio's 27-game winning streak against Golden State.

[Associated Press; By JONATHAN DALTON]

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