Northridge Nipped on a Tip-In : College basketball: Wisconsin-Milwaukee wins, 75-74, on rebound basket by Greene with 3 seconds to play.

Craig Greene has a reputation of being in the right spot, so it was no surprise that when a long rebound went up with three seconds to go against Cal State Northridge on Thursday night, the Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward was there to tip it back toward the rim.

As usual, it went in.

Greene’s tip of Marc Mitchell’s miss gave Wisconsin-Milwaukee a 75-74 victory over Northridge in a nonconference game that was key to the Panthers’ hopes of an NCAA tournament invitation.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (20-3) trailed for more than 39 minutes--until the end. Northridge (9-14) led, 74-73, and had Andre Chevalier, an 81% free-throw shooter, at the line in a one-and-one situation with 14 seconds left.

He missed. Ray Perine grabbed the rebound for Wisconsin-Milwaukee and quickly passed to Mitchell, who dribbled the length of the floor and put up an off-balance shot from just inside the free-throw line.

Mitchell’s shot was long, but Greene reached above a tangle of hands to tap home the winning points.

“We got exactly the kind of play we wanted,” Panther Coach Steve Antrim said. “We got penetration and a clean path to the basket.”

And Greene became the hero--again. Earlier this season he scored in the same situation to force overtime in a game the Panthers won over Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“Marc and I have an understanding when I know he’s going to take it to the basket,” Greene said. “I know it’s either going in, or bouncing straight out. I know where to go to get the ball.

“Some of the guys were saying, ‘Are you going to do this every time?’ ”

During a timeout before Chevalier’s missed free throw, Northridge set its defense to stop a last-ditch three-point attempt. The assumption was, Chevalier would make both shots and Northridge would have a three-point lead.

“We were just going to stop the three,” Chevalier said. “I missed the free throw and messed up the play.”

Chevalier finished with six points, tying his lowest scoring output of the season. His drought can be directly attributed to reduced playing time--only 26 minutes. Chevalier picked up his third foul less than four minutes into the game and sat out the rest of the first half.

Robert Hill, a freshman, played well in Chevalier’s absence. Hill made all three of his field-goal attempts and scored nine points in the first half, helping stake the Matadors to a 46-37 advantage.

Five Matadors scored in double figures, led by Anthony Moten’s career-high 14. Chris Yard added 13 points, James Morris and Brooklyn McLinn and Peter Micelli 10.