MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 11, 2015) -- For a few minutes, it looked like the Milligan College men's basketball team was going to pull off the unlikeliest of comebacks, but despite cutting a 16-point second-half deficit to one with 1:29 left, the Buffaloes fell to Reinhardt 89-81 Wednesday night in an Appalachian Athletic Conference contest at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
Milligan, which continued to receive votes for the national top-25 poll this week, lost for the second time in a row for only the second time this season, dropping its record to a league second-best 17-8 (11-5 AAC). The Buffaloes remained half a game ahead of Truett-McConnell College and will continue to control their own destiny, related to the regular season runner-up, for the remainder of the season. Reinhardt improved to 17-8 (9-6 AAC).
 
Mickey Woods, who battled foul trouble for most of the first half and the entire second half, matched Julian Bailey for the game's high scorer. Woods' 14 points included a floater in the lane that capped off a 10-1 run over three minutes and cut the deficit to 81-80 with 1:29 left.
 
What was spent clawing back and battling against the improbable odds all came unraveled for Milligan over the final 89 seconds, however, as Reinhardt's Matt Porter converted his third 3-pointer on three tries in the game on the Eagles ensuing possession. Then after a turnover on the Milligan end, Reinhardt scored a basket quickly on the other end to go up 86-80 with 40 seconds left.
 
The closing seconds included only one made free throw from Milligan as Reinhardt finished the game scoring eight of the last nine points.
 
"It seemed that (Reinhardt) won the hustle plays," Head Coach Bill Robinson said. "We definitely did not win the hustle plays tonight, and that comes from just not playing hard enough. For whatever reason we just came out playing flat and we just continued to play flat for the whole game. We did have a nice run in the end, but it was too little, too late."
 
Reinhardt led the whole way and was ahead by as many as 13 in the first half and 16 early in the second half. The Eagles maintained a lead of 13 or more until the 10-minute mark and a lead of six or more until the three-minute mark.
 
During Milligan's final 10-1 run, the Buffs were perfect from the field, making all four shots and both Woods free throws. Woods scored six of those points, and Morgan McLeod had the other four, with both baskets following great passes in traffic from Woods and Kurt Brooks.
 
Woods and Brooks finished with a game high four assists. Brooks added nine points, one shy of the double digit barrier reached by five Buffaloes. Chris Ellis scored 13 and McLeod and Gabriel Logan had 12.
 
Both McLeod and Ellis registered double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. It was McLeod's second and Ellis' first of the season.
 
For Reinhardt, six players scored in double figures led by Warren Staples and Nehemiah Jones who each scored 13 points off the bench. Porter scored 11 with a 4-for-4 effort from the field. He made all three triples in the second half. As a team, the Eagles were 7-of-15 (46.7%) from 3-point territory, including 5-for-8 in the second half.
 
Milligan will next be back in action for a nonconference game on the road against Allen University on Monday, Feb. 16. The Buffs return home one final time for a league game against Montreat College on Saturday, Feb. 21. The senior class will be honored as part of a senior day celebration.