Milligan College, Tenn. (Dec. 1, 2012) --- The Milligan College men's basketball team picked up their first Appalachian Athletic Conference victory of the season as they defeated Montreat College 88-77 on Saturday afternoon inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
   In the first half, the Buffaloes opened the game quickly as they raced out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes. Freshman Cartree Pettis (Oviedo, Fla.) and Torian Sitton (Hendersonville, N.C.) hit two buckets a piece and a jumper from Mickey Woods (Port Arthur, Tex.) gave Milligan a 19-5 lead with 13:19 left in the first half.
 
   After the Cavaliers closed the gap back to 10 points, Morgan McLeod (Hickory, N.C.) sparked a 10-0 run capped off by a Chris Ellis (Bristol, Tenn.) jumper that extended the Milligan lead to 33-13 just past halfway of the half. Montreat slowly pulled cut the gap, but McLeod and Woods added baskets in the closing minutes of the half as Milligan took a 42-31 lead into the half.
 
   Pettis led the way with seven points, while Sitton finished the half with six points. As a team, Milligan finished the half 19-of-28 (68%) from the floor and 2-of-4 (50%) from the 3-point line. The Cavaliers were 11-of-34 (32%) from the field in the first half and 4-of-8 (50%) from behind the arc.
 
   Montreat opened the second half on 6-0 run in the first four minutes to cut their gap to five points, but the Buffaloes answered with free throws from Tyler DeVault (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Pettis to take a 45-37 lead five minutes in the period.
 
   DeVault hit a jumper to spark a 6-2 run that gave Milligan some separation from the Cavaliers. After Montreat cut the gap back to 10 points, Pettis capitalized on a 3-point play and Sitton record a slam to put Milligan up 60-44 with 11:02 remaining. The final 10 minutes of the game saw the Buffaloes maintain a double-digit advantage to preserve the victory.
 
   DeVault led the way with 17 points, while Pettis tallied 16 points. Sitton ended the game with 14 points. Woods finished with 12 points, and McLeod ended the game with a career high 11 points.
 
   As a team, Milligan was 33-of-59 (56%) from the floor and 3-of-8 (38%) from the 3-point line. Montreat finished the game 26-of-67 (39%) from the field and 6-of-14 (43%) from behind the arc.
 
   With the win, Milligan improves to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in AAC action. Montreat falls to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
 
   The Buffaloes return to action on Monday, Dec. 3, as they host Alice Lloyd College. Game time inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m.