Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 27, 2010) --- The Milligan College Buffs fell short of a comeback victory in a 81-76 loss to AAC foe UVA-Wise on Wednesday night in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

In the first half, the Buffs came out of the gate slow as UVA-Wise jumped out to an 11-0 lead five minutes into the contest. However, Milligan was not to be outdone as they went on 14-3 run to tie the game at 14 with 10:54 remaining in the half. That run was sparked by Justin Sylvester's (Kingsport, Tenn.) steal and dish to Cordero Seymour (Inagua, Bahamas) for the slam to put the Buffs on the board. At that point, the game would turn to a back and forth battle as UVA-Wise gradually increased their lead to 44-36 at the end of the first half.

For the half, both teams shot 54% as the Buffs were 14-of-26 from the field while the Cavaliers were 15-of-28. The difference in the half was from behind the 3-point line as UVA-Wise was 4-of-8 (50%) while Milligan was 2-of-5 (40%). The Buffs were led by Torian Sitton (Hendersonville, N.C.), who had nine points in the half. In all, Milligan received points from ten players in the first half.

In the second half, the Buffs and Cavaliers both picked up intensity. Milligan cut the lead down to five for much of the opening portion of the half, before cutting it to three points on separate occasions. Milligan, however, did not give up the fight as Sitton pulled a rebound and lay in to close the gap to one with 6:51 remaining.

The Buffs stayed within striking distance the rest of the way as the biggest lead the Cavaliers could muster was four points. Milligan kept making charges at the Cavaliers, and it finally paid off as they had the chances to tie with less than two minutes remaining. The Buffs had a chance to tie or take the lead with one minute showing on the scoreboard after the Cavaliers were charged with an offensive foul. Despite a hard fought effort, Milligan was unable to get a shot to drop as they were unsuccessful in getting the lead.

“Well, we can't get down 11-0, and we just aren't talented enough to have four or five of our starters with two fouls in the first half,” Head Coach Bill Robinson said. “We just aren't deep enough. I am pleased with our guys and the way that they came back and fought, but it really comes down to we just can't get that one stop when we needed it. We just need to be able to get that one stop.”

The Buffs were led by Sitton's 17 points. Bryant Edwards (Tabor City, N.C) added 13 points, four assists, and four steals. Seymour ended the game with 11 points while Sylvester had nine points, four assists, and two steals. As a team, the Buffs shot 49% from the floor, while UVA-Wise shot 57%.

The loss drops the Buffs to 8-13 overall and 4-6 in conference, while the Cavaliers improve to 8-10 overall and 5-4 in AAC action.

“Every game is a move up or move down,” Robinson said. “You win and you move up or you loss you move down. With homecourt such being such a big deal in any conference, and not just in our conference, you just can't give up winnable games at home."

Milligan returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Union College for their last AAC road game until Feb. 20. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm.