Milligan College, Tenn. (Nov. 23, 2010) --- The Milligan College men's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Alice Lloyd College 86-69 on Tuesday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Alice Lloyd opened the game on a roll as they quickly pulled out to a 23-8 lead in the first eight minutes. Milligan responded with a run of their own as they used an 11-0 run to pull back within three points at the midway point of the first half.

The Buffs took a 32-31 lead at the 6:23 mark when Kyle Grisby (Charlotte, N.C.) drained a 3-pointer. Neither team could pull away from the other in the remainder of the first half as they swapped the lead several times down the stretch. Milligan took a 47-45 lead into half after Tim Harper (Catawba, N.C.) hit a lay-up after a Grisby steal in the final minute of the period.

The second half saw Milligan slowly pull away from the Eagles as former Dobyns-Bennett standout Justin Sylvester (Kingsport, Tenn.) gave the Buffs a 68-55 lead with 8:59 remaining in the game. Alice Lloyd cut the lead to nine points, before Milligan bounced back to a double-digit lead off of a field goal from Marshall Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) and a 3-pointer from Hudson Fricke (Greeneville, S.C.) with 5:18 remaining in the game. From there, the Buffs were able to maintain their advantage to secure the victory.

Milligan was led by Fricke's 25 points, while Harper added 17 points. Sylvester and Tyler DeVault (Kingsport, Tenn.) finished the game with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Grisby ended the game with seven points, five assists and three steals.

As a team, the Buffs were 33-of-64 (51%) from the floor, and 9-of-22 (41%) from behind the arc.

“It is nice to get a little momentum heading into Thanksgiving break,” Head Coach Bill Robinson said. “I thought we played pretty well. We started slow, but we had a nice run to get back into it. When you knock down shots, good things happen.”

With the win, Milligan improves to 2-4.

The Buffs return to action on Saturday, Nov. 27, for an exhibition game against East Tennessee State University. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m., inside the MSHA/Athletic Center in Johnson City, Tenn.