ATHENS, Tenn. (Nov. 18, 2015) â€" Kurt Brooks made eight baskets Wednesday night but none were bigger than the one he made with 6.4 seconds left in overtime to send the Milligan College men's basketball team to an 86-85 triumph over Tennessee Wesleyan College to open the Appalachian Athletic Conference season.
 
Brooks made it on a tightly contested layup to give him a game-high 26 points and keep Milligan perfect at 5-0 (1-0 AAC). His basket also ended a two and a half minute scoreless spell for both teams, during which time Milligan forced three turnovers and a missed shot. In fact, Milligan scored the last four points of the game as a corner 3-pointer made by Tennessee Wesleyan's (2-1, 0-1 AAC) Trey Suttles with 2:58 left rounded out the Bulldogs scoring.
 
Milligan trailed nearly the whole way Wednesday night and faced deficits as large as 13 in the first half and seven in the second. After finding themselves down 30-17 with five minutes left in the opening half, the Buffs closed the first 20 minutes on a 16-6 run. Will Buckner and Julian Bailey scored four apiece in that stretch before Alex Biggerstaff made the first of two threes to cut it to four.
 
In the second half, Milligan kept it within seven but never led until Buckner made a nice move inside following a great feed from James Songster to make it 79-77 with under a minute left. On the ensuing TWC possession, Charles White knocked down a 15-footer to tie it and force overtime.
 
Milligan did have one final chance to win it in regulation, and Brooks seemed to have the game winner in the closing seconds. However, his made basket was waved off for an offensive foul.
 
In addition to his career high-tying 26 points, Brooks added nine rebounds and three assists. Bailey and Buckner were next in the scoring column with 18 apiece, and Biggerstaff scored eight.
 
Tennessee Wesleyan was led by Leland Robinson and White who scored 17 apiece. Each registered a double-double as Robinson earned a game high 11 rebounds and White had 10 assists.
 
The game was a rematch of last year's Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament semifinal, when Milligan beat Tennessee Wesleyan by 15 to advance to the AAC championship game and ultimately secure a spot in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.
 
Milligan will host St. Andrews University its next time out, facing the Knights on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The Buffs are then on the road for the next four games and will not return home until Saturday, Dec. 5.