MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Nov. 15, 2014) â€" The Milligan College men's basketball team never trailed beyond the 16-minute mark in the first half, but the Buffaloes hardly coasted to a 74-62 win against St. Andrews University Saturday evening at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
Milligan (6-0, 2-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference) led by as many as 12 midway through the second half but saw the advantage cut to four (62-58) with less than four minutes left. James Songster, Morgan McLeod and Mike Woods Jr. scored buckets on Milligan's last three possessions as the Buffaloes went on a 6-0 run to end the game and climb to the top of the AAC standings.
 
"This was a hard-fought win against a scrappy St. Andrews team," Head Coach Bill Robinson said. "Mickey Woods played great even though he was cramping. Morgan has emerged into one of the best post players in our league, I believe. Those are the only two in double figures tonight. You want your seniors to step up, and both of those guys stepped up really well."
 
Woods led all scorers with 24 points, 13 of which came from the foul line. McLeod had 19 points, only missing one shot on 10 attempts, and a team high six rebounds.
 
The game started out as one of the lowest scoring affairs of the season as the teams had combined for 18 points through the first 10 minutes, and neither team reached 20 points until under the four-minute mark in the first half. During that initial span was when St. Andrews took its only lead of the game, a 3-2 advantage that lasted for one possession-a span of about 25 seconds.
 
Woods, Jr. knocked down one of Milligan's three triples to erase the St. Andrews lead and finished with seven points to match Kurt Brooks.
 
"The point of emphasis at halftime was to get the ball inside," Robinson said. "Our two starting post players only had two shots in the first half, so for Morgan to come out and get 10 total and for Chris Ellis to score some inside too, it was a good effort all-around."
 
St. Andrews was led by Quentin Duncan who scored 21 points off the bench. Aaron Smith scored 20 points, and Ryan Outar had 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Knights shot 39.2 percent (20-51) in the loss, including 23.1 percent (3-13) from 3-point territory.
 
Milligan shot 59.1 percent (26-44) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-16) from three.
 
Milligan returns back here to the Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 19 for a women's and men's doubleheader against Tennessee Wesleyan College. Tip-off for the women is set for 5:30 p.m., and the men will follow no earlier than 7:30 p.m. Tennessee Wesleyan's men were tabbed to finish second this season in the AAC. The women were tabbed to win it and currently rank No. 22.