KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 25, 2016) â€" Seniors Kurt Brooks and Julian Bailey combined for 29 points, but the Milligan College men's basketball team was eliminated from the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament in the quarterfinal round with a 68-58 loss to Bluefield College Thursday at the MeadowView Marriott.
 
Milligan ended its season with a record of 16-11 (10-8 AAC) where the Buffs entered the postseason tournament as the No. 4 seed. Bluefield (18-11, 9-9 AAC), the five seed, will play top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan College in the semifinals.
 
Brooks and the Buffs jumped out to an 8-2 lead on a 3-pointer less than 90 seconds into the game, but that was the largest Milligan would lead the rest of the way. Bluefield closed the gap with the next seven points before a back-and-forth struggle ensued over the next 25 minutes.
 
It was then near the 12-minute mark when a triple by Bluefield's Sidney Knox broke the 10th and final tie, and the Rams followed with a 9-0 run which proved to be a point shy of the difference.
 
After trailing by as many as nine outside of five minutes, Milligan cut it back down to a four-point deficit, 53-49, on a basket by Jacob Cawood with 5:32 left. Three minutes later, the Buffs again cut it down to four at 59-55 on two made free throws by Brooks with 2:21 left, but Bluefield scored the next five and converted on free throws down the stretch.
 
Behind Brooks and Bailey, who scored 18 and 11, David Casaday scored nine, making three 3-pointers in the first half. Seniors James Songster and Milos Petrovic each had six.
 
Bailey's 11 points came alongside nine rebounds, one shy of his AAC-leading 16th double-double of the season. Brooks added four rebounds, and Songster added seven rebounds and four assists. Songster and the Buffs also held Bluefield's leading scorer Cordaris Towns to 0-for-10 from the field.
 
Knox led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Zeke Williams scored 14, and Towns had three points and 10 rebounds.