SWANNANOA, N.C. (Nov. 16, 2015) â€" After suffering its second exhibition loss of the season the last time out, the Buffaloes' big men helped the Milligan College men's basketball team overcome a slow start and get back to its winning ways with a 68-60 victory over Warren Wilson College Monday night at DeVries Athletic Center.

The Buffs were led by four big men: Milos Petrovic, Julian Bailey, Will Buckner and Jacob Cawood. Petrovic, a senior, led both teams with 14 points, while Bailey, also a senior, played big at the end of the game to finish with 11 points, a game-high eight rebounds and a team-high three assists. Buckner and Cawood, both freshmen, each finished with 12 points.

Milligan (4-0), who had not played Warren Wilson (5-3) since the third game of the 2013-14 season when the Buffaloes won by 20, has now won five straight games over the Owls and maintained its undefeated start to the current season.

The Buffs began the second half with a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 10 at 44-34. The Owls, however, responded with a run of their own, this one a 13-2 stretch that put Warren Wilson ahead 47-46.

That would, however, be the final lead of the game for Warren Wilson as a bucket by David Casaday and a dunk by Buckner made it 50-47. A score by Kurt Brooks and a layup by Cawood gave Milligan a six-point lead at 54-48 with about eight minutes left in the game.

A layup by Bailey moments before a free throw by James Songster put Milligan ahead 59-50. The closest the Owls would get from there was within six points, which they reached three times, all before Bailey took over with a free throw and a basket to make it 66-57 and all but put the game out of reach with just over a minute to play.

Two more free throws by Bailey at the 40-second mark clinched the victory for the Buffs. Balanced scoring was the key for Milligan in the second half as eight players entered the scoring column.

Overall, the game featured a slow start for the Buffs, who trailed 10-2 early in the contest before battling back to take their first lead of the game at 12-11 on a layup by Buckner around eight and a half minutes in. Milligan then used another 7-0 run featuring two free throws from Bailey, a layup by Cawood and the team's only 3-pointer of the half, by Casaday, to turn a 16-16 tie into a 23-16 lead with 7:28 to go in the opening half.

A floater by Cawood followed by a layup by Petrovic, who had 12 points to lead all scorers at the half, put Milligan up by nine at 27-18, but that is when Warren Wilson began its comeback to close the half.

After a 12-3 Owl run got the margin down to one at 31-30, two free throws by Alex Biggerstaff followed by Buckner's fourth layup of the half put the Buffs back up by five with 40 seconds on the clock.

Warren Wilson then converted on a pair of free throws and finished with a transition layup after a Milligan turnover to cut it back to one before Buckner hit a jumper at the halftime buzzer to send Milligan into the break leading 37-34. Buckner finished the first half as one of three Buffs with eightor more points as he had 10 and Cawood had eight.

Next up, the Buffs begin AAC action on the road at Tennessee Wesleyan College on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Athens, Tennessee. Milligan will turn back around and open the conference season at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. against St. Andrews University. The women's contests will precede both of the men's games.