MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Jan. 2, 2016) â€" Julian Bailey had a game-high 13 points and 16 rebounds for his team-leading eighth double-double of the season as he helped the Milligan College men's basketball team storm back in the final five minutes, but it wasn't enough as the Buffaloes fell to No. 6 Union College, 61-57, Saturday night at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

In addition to Bailey's effort, Kurt Brooks and Jacob Cawood each finished with 11 points, and David Casaday and Alex Biggerstaff each connected on important threes during the second half.

Milligan fell to 9-4 on the season and 5-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, while Union, who has beaten two top-10 nationally ranked teams so far this season, raised its record to 13-3 and 5-0 with what was its ninth straight victory.

The Buffs were able to stay in the game nearly the whole time thanks to shooting 93.3 percent from the charity stripe (14-15), but it was three free throws by Union's Nick Riley in the final 12 seconds that sealed the deal for the Bulldogs.

After neither team led by more than five in the first half, Union opened the second half with an 11-6 run over the first four minutes and 13 seconds to take a nine-point lead at 40-31.

The Buffs then got the game back to within three at 41-38 when Brooks, Cawood and Bailey all scored and put together a 7-1 Milligan run with 12:44 to play.

With the Bulldogs up 11 at 56-45 with 7:08 on the clock, Milligan began to claw back into the game with Casaday's three and five straight points from Bailey to make it 56-53 with 3:23 remaining.

From there, Union never led by more than five, and when Cawood converted on two free throws with 1:27 left to get the margin back to three at 58-55, Union was beginning to feel the pressure put on by the Milligan faithful.

Riley and Gerrard Newby missed on back-to-back 3-point attempts, giving Milligan the basketball with 19 seconds to go, but Milligan was unable to get a shot attempt off before Riley hit the first of two free throw attempts to make it a four-point game.

Brooks responded with a quick coast-to-coast layup to get it back to two at 59-57 before Riley hit his final two free throws of the night, finishing 5-6 from the line.

In addition to Riley's 10 points, Union was paced by Sean Brown and J.D. Tucker, who both had 13 points, and Newby, who had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

Milligan will be home again on Thursday, Jan. 7, for another AAC matchup against Bryan College. Opening tip is set for 7:30 p.m. after the women's game.