Photo courtesy Brian Beard, Creative Images Photography.

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. (March 12, 2015) -- An outstanding season finally came to an end Thursday evening in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship as Milligan College lost to No. 5 Dakota Wesleyan University 98-55 at Keeter Gymnasium.
 
Milligan finished its season at 20-11 (12-6 AAC) after advancing to the national championship for the first time since 2001. The 20-win season marked the third straight year Head Coach Bill Robinson led the Buffaloes to 18 or more wins.
 
"I'm so proud of the Buffs, especially the seniors, for a great season," Robinson said. "We ran into a great Dakota Wesleyan team that has been ranked consistently in the top five nationally all year. Mike Woods (Jr) played great tonight, and Julian Bailey gave great production off the bench. Overall it's been a great season, and I look forward to building on this year's success."
 
Mike Woods Jr. led Milligan with a career high tying 19 points, including a 3-for-8 effort from 3-point territory. Bailey scored 12 points and added seven rebounds off the bench.
 
Dakota Wesleyan missed a basket on its opening possession but rarely missed after that. The Tigers used back-to-back 3-point makes in the first two minutes of the game to build a 9-0 lead, and they never looked back. Six players from Dakota Wesleyan made a 3-pointer, and the team as a whole was 16-of-27 (59.3%) from three.
 
DWU's Jalen Voss, who led all scorers with 26 points, made two 3-pointers, and three other Tigers made three or more. Wesleyan shot 63 percent (35-56) from the field and made 20 shots in the first half alone.
 
Milligan made four 3-point attempts but shot only 32 percent (23-71) from the field and 27 percent (4-15) from three.
 
Senior Mickey Woods, who eclipsed the millennial mark in the opening game of the season, scored seven points to bring his career total to 1,482. Fellow senior Morgan McLeod scored four points with two rebounds and three assists.
 
One of McLeod's baskets completed an 11-3 run late in the first half when the Buffaloes were looking to chip away at an early deficit. McLeod's 2-pointer made it a 10-point game (35-25), but Dakota Wesleyan answered it with baskets on the next three possessions, two of those being 3-pointers.
 
The Tigers caught fire at the tail end of the first half as well, connecting on their last three triples over the last 80 seconds. Jade Miller's 3-pointer as first-half time expired gave the Tigers a 24-point lead (55-31) heading into the locker room. Fittingly enough for DWU, Joey Mitchell made a 3-pointer to open the second half, and the Buffs were never closer than 23.