Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 19, 2013) --- The Milligan College men's basketball team withstood a second half rally and pulled away to take a 86-72 victory over Point University in Appalachian Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
   The teams traded shots to open the game before the Skyhawks took an 8-4 lead four minutes into the game. Torian Sitton (Hendersonville, N.C.) scored four straight points to tie the game at 8-8, and the Buffaloes ran out to a 15-10 lead with points from Cartree Pettis (Oviedo, Fla.) and Mickey Woods (Port Arthur, Tex.) with just over 10 minutes to play.
 
   After a Skyhawks jumper, a Woods 3-pointer kicked off a 7-0 run capped by a Sitton layup that gave the Buffaloes a 22-12 lead with 8:58 left in the half. The Buffaloes extended their lead in the final five minutes of the first half as they outscored Point 12-6 as Scott Blake (Greeneville, Tenn.) drained a pair of 3-pointers to give Milligan a 36-20 lead at the half.
 
   Sitton and Woods led the way with 10 points apiece, while Blake ended the half with eight points. As a team, Milligan ended the half 14-of-28 (50%) from the floor and 4-of-10 (40%) from behind the arc. The Skyhawks finished the half 9-of-33 (27%) from the field and 1-of-7 (14%) from behind the 3-point line.
 
   Tyler DeVault (Kingsport, Tenn.) opened the scoring for Milligan in the second half as Woods and Pettis added shots to extend the Milligan lead, and Sitton hit a 3-pointer four minutes into the half to give the Buffaloes a 45-25 lead. The Skyhawks slowly trimmed the lead to 55-45 with an 8-2 run midway through the half.
 
   The Buffaloes responded with a pair of free throws that sparked an 8-2 run capped by two straight buckets from DeVault as Milligan took a 63-47 lead with seven minutes left to play. Point closed the gap back to 11 points, but the Buffaloes used 3-point plays from Sitton and DeVault to extend the lead. The final minutes saw the Buffaloes secure the win with a 3-pointer from Blake and a dunk from Sitton.
 
    Sitton led the way with 21 points, while DeVault tallied 18 points in the game. Blake finished the game with 17 points. Woods recorded 16 points.
 
   With the win, Milligan improves to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the AAC, while Point falls to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
 
   The Buffaloes return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 22, as they travel to Johnson University for their final nonconference game of the season. Game time in Knoxville, Tenn., is set for 7 p.m.