Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 5, 2013) --- The Milligan College men's basketball team remained undefeated at home this season and moved into a tie for first place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference with a 88-82 victory over Reinhardt University on Saturday afternoon inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
   Milligan opened the game quickly as Torian Sitton (Hendersonville, N.C.) and Morgan Mcleod (Hickory, N.C.) scored on lay-ups in the game's opening minute, but Reinhardt answered as they ran to an 11-5 lead four minutes into the game. After the Eagles took an eight point lead, the Buffaloes slowly cut the gap as a Cartree Pettis (Oviedo, Fla.) lay-up pulled Milligan within two points, and the Buffaloes regained the lead with a Corey Hendren (Lexington, S.C.) 3-pointer with 9:06 left to play.
 
   The teams traded shots over the next five minutes until Milligan pulled out to a 44-39 lead with just over four minutes left in the half. Reinhardt went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 44-44, but the Buffaloes outscored the Eagles 8-4 in the final minutes to take a 52-48 lead into the half.   
 
   Scott Blake (Greeneville, Tenn.) led the way with 11 points. As a team, Milligan was 20-of-34 (59%) from the field and 8-of-12 (67%) from the 3-point line. The Eagles finished the half 20-of-46 (44%) from the field and 4-of-14 (29%) from behind the arc.
 
   Milligan quickly extended their lead with points from Pettis and Mcleod, and Sitton took advantage off a steal to extend the Buffaloes lead to 58-51 two minutes into the second half. After the Eagles pulled back within three points, the Buffaloes added four points from Blake and a pair of free throws from DeVault to take a 64-55 lead with 15 minutes to play.
 
   The Eagles made another run, but the Buffaloes responded with a 10-2 run capped by a Blake 3-pointer to take a 75-65 lead midway through the half. Milligan answered a 5-0 Reinhardt run with a 5-0 run of their own sparked by a Sitton jumper as they maintained a 80-70 with six minutes left. In the final minutes, Reinhardt closed the gap to six points, but the Buffaloes pulled away with free throws to take the victory.
       
   Blake led the way with a game high 19 points, while DeVault finished with 15 points. Hendren and Pettis had 11 points apiece, and Kurt Brooks (Newport, Tenn.) had nine points.
 
   As a team, Milligan finished the game 30-of-60 (50%) from the field and 9-of-18 (50%) from behind the arc. Reinhardt ended the game 20-of-46 (36%) from the floor and 9-of-25 (36%) from behind the 3-point line.
 
   With the win, Milligan improves to 3-1 in AAC action and 10-6 overall, while the Eagles falls to 6-6 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
 
   The Buffaloes return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 8, as they host AAC foe Bryan College. Game time inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse is set for 7:30 p.m.