DAYTON, Tenn. (Feb. 7, 2015) â€" Mickey Woods scored 20 points for the fourth game in a row, but the Milligan College men's basketball took a hard loss on the road, 70-52, to Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Bryan College on Saturday evening.
 
With the loss, Milligan (17-7, 11-4 AAC) fell to two and a half games back of league-leading Union College (13-1 AAC) and to a game and a half lead over third-placed Truett-McConnell College (9-5 AAC). Both Union and TMC had Saturday off from competition.  Bryan improved to 13-10 (7-7 AAC) and earned a season split with Milligan as the Buffs took the first decision, 69-62 at home in December.
 
The Buffs, who have spent the last three and a half weeks receiving votes for the national top-25 poll, led by as many as nine in the first half but saw the Lions go on a pivotal 12-0 run midway through the first half. The Lions went 5-for-5 with two made 3-pointers and scored on all five possessions during their run. After that, Milligan led only one more time, by one, as Bryan closed the first half with the final five points and never trailed in the second half.
 
Milligan cut it to a four-point game with just over 10 minutes left but it seemed to be all Lions from there. Bryan took the wind out of the Milligan sail by expanding the lead back out to double figures over the next five minutes then ran away with the last five with an 11-2 run which gave them their largest lead of the game.  
 
Woods was the high scorer for Milligan, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting. But he was 0-for-5 from 3-point range as the Buffs spent most of the day cold. Milligan shot 32.7 percent (18-55) from the field and was 14.3 percent (3-of-21) on 3-point attempts.
 
Kurt Brooks was the next Buffalo in the scoring column, finishing with nine points and four rebounds.
 
For Bryan, Brandon Cole led all scorers with 27 points and also added 15 rebounds for his 15th double-double in 23 games. Only TMC's J'Qayveon Williams (18) has more double-doubles in the AAC.
 
Milligan will be back home on Wednesday, Feb. 11, for a doubleheader with the women against Reinhardt University. Milligan's men lost to Reinhardt 81-79 on the road when they met in January.