Men’s Basketball takes down third-place Point 69-59

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (January 19, 2023) – The Milligan University men's basketball team used a strong second half effort to defeat Point 69-59 at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Thursday evening.

The Buffs rise to 7-12 on the season and 7-9 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) league play. Point, who entered the game in third place in the AAC standings, fall to 11-9, 11-6 AAC. The Buffs avenged a 81-69 defeat to the Skyhawks two weeks ago to split the season series.

Three-pointers by Drew Greene and Jackson Gabriel helped Milligan open up an eight-point edge (14-6) on the Skyhawks through the first seven minutes of play.

The Buffs led by as many as nine points (22-13) after a lay-in by Julian Wilson with eight minutes left in the half but a 12-2 Skyhawk spurt tied the game at 24 at the 5:34 mark. Point's fourth and fifth three-pointer in a six-minute span gave the visitors a 34-28 edge with two minutes to go in the half. Matthew Roberts and Wilson had the final two buckets of the half to trim the margin to 34-32 at the break.

The Buffs got a five-point swing early in the second half after Sami Sanad blocked a fastbreak layup attempt for Point and then set up Sam Gold's right-wing to three bring the Buffs within one (38-37) four minutes into the second half. A Wilson finish in traffic gave the Buffs a 41-40 edge with 15 minutes to play in the half.

After several minutes of back-and-forth play that saw neither team lead by more than a possession, Gabriel made a pair of go-ahead three pointers to put the Buffs ahead 49-47 and 52-49, latter being made with eight minutes left in the half.

Sanad drained a contested turn-around to push Milligan's lead to 54-49 as the clocked ticked under five minutes left. Greene's free throws kept the Buffs' edge at five (56-51) at the four minute mark. Greene found Wilson for a layup, Dylan Bartley made a free throw and Levontae Knox drove the left baseline for a layup to put the Buffs ahead 61-53 with just over two minutes left.

Greene made four free throws in a row to bring Milligan's lead to 10 points (67-57) in the final minute as the Buffs held on for the 69-59 victory. The Buffs outscored Point 37-25 in the second half to secure win.

Sanad and Wilson led the Buffs with 14 points apiece. Sanad added six rebounds and two steals while Wilson had five boards and three assists. Greene finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Buffs shot 45.3 percent from the field compared to the Skyhawks' 36.1 percent. The Buffs outrebounded Point 46-33 and owned a 28-14 edge in points in the paint.

Milligan travels to AAC frontrunner, No. 9 Union, next Wednesday.