MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Nov. 17, 2018) â€" Aaron Levarity tallied 15 points, but it was not enough as the Milligan College men's basketball team fell 72-59 to No. 9 Union in an Appalachian Athletic Conference showdown Saturday inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

With the loss, the Buffaloes (5-2, 2-1 AAC) snapped their five game winning streak and dropped their first conference game. Union (4-2, 3-0 AAC), the league preseason favorites, remained unblemished in conference play.

The Buffs found themselves in an early hole as they trailed right out of the gates and faced as big of a deficit as 13 in the first half. Union went into the locker room at the break with a 45-34 advantage.

After a made 3-pointer by the Bulldogs opened up the second half, Milligan put together a 13-2 run to draw within three points of the Union lead at 50-47. The run lasted for over five minutes and began with a Levarity bucket inside the paint and was capped off by a Tyler Nichols three.

That would be the closest the Buffs would get on the night as Union used a 6-0 run leading 54-50 to push their advantage back to double digits. The Bulldogs slowly pulled away from that point on and built as large of a lead as 17 before ultimately winning 72-59.

BY THE NUMBERS
Levarity brought down nine rebounds finishing one shy of a double-double, and also registered two blocks. The senior forward currently leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game (5.83) and ranks No. 2 in total rebounds per game (15).

Nichols followed with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and Desean Green added nine points and nine rebounds to help lead Milligan's offense.

Overall, Milligan shot 41.5% from the field while the Bulldogs managed a 41.3% clip. One of the biggest differences in the game came from the 3-point line as Milligan could only muster four makes on 16 attempts compared to Union knocking down eight triples on 19 attempts.

The Buffs were held well below their average of 82.5 points per game, but they also held Union below their season scoring average of 80.8 as well. Milligan entered the contest with the nation's seventh best field goal percentage defense.

Union was led by Lance Blakley and DeMarkus Loman, who each recorded 15 points. K.J. Duronslet and Derek Morgan were also in double figures with 11 points apiece.

UP NEXT
Milligan continues AAC play with a road contest against Reinhardt Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Waleska, Georgia. The Buffs will then take a week off before returning to action against Truett McConnell inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m.