Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 20, 2010) --- The Buffs were unable to hold on to a halftime lead as they fell to AAC frontrunner Tennessee Wesleyan 85-77 in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.    

In the first half, the Buffs and the Bulldogs stayed even as they exchanged the lead three times and had six ties in the first 10 minutes. At that point, Milligan used a 9-0 run to take a 25-16 lead with eight minutes remaining. The Buffs held on to the lead to the end of the half as they took a 40-32 lead into the break.   

Kyle Donahue (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Torian Sitton (Hendersonville, N.C.) had 14 points and 11 points in the half respectively for Milligan. As a team, the Buffs shot 14-of-30 (47%) from the field, while the Bulldogs were 13-of-29 (45%) in the first half. Milligan was 2-of-6 (33%) from the 3-point line compared to 0-of-4 (0%) for Tennessee Wesleyan.   

The Bulldogs came out on fire after the break as they started the half on an 8-0 run. However, the Buffs settled down, and swapped the lead with Tennessee Wesleyan. Despite the Buffs momentum, they fell behind as they could not keep up with the hot shooting of the Bulldogs as Milligan trailed 68-58 with eight minutes remaining.

The Buffs made one last charge as they went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit as they pulled within four points of Tennessee Wesleyan, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs went on to win it.    

“I think the biggest thing for us is not to look at the scoreboard and just play,” Head Coach Bill Robinson said. “I think if there was no score on the wall, I think we would be playing a whole lot better. We have got to be able to focus and play 40 minutes and not get caught up on what the score is.” 

Donahue led the way with 21 points, beating his previous best of 19 against Covenant (Ga.) College last season. Freshman Tyler DeVault (Kingsport, Tenn.) stepped up in the second half and dropped in 13 points. Cordero Seymour (Inagua, Bahamas) and Justin Sylvester (Kingsport, Tenn.) had 12 points apiece, while Sitton had 11 points.

Milligan falls to 6-12 overall and 3-5 in conference play, while Tennessee Wesleyan improves to 9-10 overall and a league best 7-1.

“I definitely think that our best basketball is going to be played in February,” Robinson said. “I don't think that anyone is going to want to play us in the tournament. My only fear is that we are going to be on the road the whole time and it's not going to make any difference. We have got to be able to play 40 minutes home or away it doesn't matter, but we haven't been able to put 40 minutes together. I think when we do we will be pretty good.” 

The Buffs return to Coach Robinson's former school and AAC foe Montreat College on Jan. 23. Saturday night marks Robinson's first game in Black Mountain since he accepted the Milligan job last year. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.