BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 10, 2016) â€" The young Milligan College men's basketball team got a taste of top NAIA competition on Saturday evening when they travelled to No. 11 ranked and Appalachian Athletic Conference leader Union College. The Buffaloes made runs throughout the game, but struggled to stay within striking range of the Bulldogs and fell 92-73.
 
Milligan (5-8, 3-4 AAC) led 5-3 on the onset of the game, thanks to a two point field goal from Will Buckner and a three from Bo Pless. However, Union seized control of the game with a 21-4 run that spanned just under eight minutes.
 
Later in the first half, the Buffaloes cut into the lead and brought it back to single digits. After a steal from Aaron Levarity, David Casaday hit a two pointer to cut the lead to eight. With 2:50 left in the first half, Pless struck again from beyond the arc and trimmed the Bulldog lead to six, the smallest lead since early in the game. Pless made all four of Milligan's three point field goals in the first half and along with 10 first half points from Buckner, kept the deficit manageable going into the half.
 
In the opening minutes of the second half, Union went on a 14-4 run to recreate the double digit lead they had in the first half. Unlike the first half, the Bulldogs never let the Buffaloes back in and retained the double digit lead for the remainder of the game.
 
Several Milligan players made critical plays throughout the half to give themselves a chance. After Union extended its lead to 18, the largest of the game up to that point, freshman point guard Daxton Bostian stole the ball and scored a layup on the other end.
 
Later in the half, when the Bulldogs led by 19, Tyler Nichols scored on four of the ensuing five Milligan possessions that helped cut the lead to 14. During that run, Ike Ndulue had a block on the defensive end that turned into a Nichols three on the other end.
 
A few minutes later, Casaday hit threes on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead down to 10 with 7:46 left in the half, Union's smallest lead since the opening seconds of the half.  
 
As the Buffaloes seemed to be knocking on the door, the Bulldogs responded with a 13-2 run that put them up by 21 and effectively ended the comeback attempt.
 
Pless, after going scoreless in Thursday night's game against Bluefield, bounced back in a big way and led the Buffaloes with 19 points. Nichols nearly had a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. For the first time in five games, Buckner scored double digits for the second game in a row and scored 13. Bostian, Casaday, and senior Alex Biggestaff had three assists each.
 
Union's two leading scorers also happen to be the AAC's top two scorers as well. Paul Stone and Gerrard Newby had 26 and 17 points respectively.
 
The Buffaloes return to action next Wednesday night in New York, New York, as they take on Head Coach Bill Robinson's alma mater The King's College. Milligan will resume AAC play in January and plays its next home game January 7, against Point University.