MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2018) â€" Seniors David Casaday, Josh Lamb and Will Robinson were honored on senior day prior to the Milligan College men's basketball regular season finale, and the Buffaloes came away with a big win, 92-65, over St. Andrews University Saturday afternoon inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The win was Milligan's sixth straight and helped the Buffs secure the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season runner-up and No. 2 seed for the upcoming AAC tournament.
 
LEADERS
It was a big day for the seniors. Although Robinson had limited minutes due to illness, Casaday finished the day with 15 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point territory. Lamb scored five points and added five rebounds.
 
Junior Aaron Levarity, meanwhile, recorded his 10th straight and 21st total double-double of the season. Levarity's double-double tally is more than any two players in the AAC and ranks No. 3 in all of NAIA Division II. Sophomore Daxton Bostian contributed 14 points and five assists in the Buffs' win.
 
CONFERENCE PICTURE
It's been quite a climb for Milligan in the last six weeks. Entering the 2018 portion of the 2017-18 season, the Buffs were ninth in conference play with a record of 4-9 (3-4 AAC). However, a record of 11-3 since the start of January helped Milligan finish as the AAC runner-up with a final regular season record of 15-12 (13-7 AAC). Milligan can now make the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship by winning the AAC tournament or by Union, the AAC regular season champ, winning the AAC tournament.
 
Milligan's first game of the AAC tournament is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 17, at 3:30 p.m. The full tournament bracket, along with matchups and times, will be released by the AAC office once all regular season competition has concluded.
 
HOT START | FIRST HALF
Milligan trailed only twice in the game, after each of St. Andrews' first two possessions. The Buffs then took the lead for good going senior to senior as Robinson found Casaday for a 3-pointer that made it 5-4, and the Buffs never trailed again.
 
They used a 16-4 run early in the first half to take a big lead and had little trouble from there.
 
HOT START | SECOND HALF
In the second half, Milligan came out of the gates once again firing on all cylinders. After St. Andrews scored two points at the free throw line on the first possession of the second half, Milligan rolled off the next 13 points to go ahead 58-29 with 17 minutes left.
 
The game was relatively even from that point forward, as Milligan went out by as many as 35 and never led by less than 23.
 
FOR ST. ANDREWS
Three Knights registered double figures in scoring, led by Andrew Rodriguez who had 13 points and five rebounds. The loss was St. Andrews' 10th straight and dropped the Knights to a league-worst 4-19 (4-16 AAC).
 
THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Levarity scored 24 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the Buffs to a 78-72 win in overtime at St. Andrews. Robinson scored a basket in the closing seconds to force the overtime period, then the Buffs controlled OT by scoring the first four points of the extra period.
 
UP NEXT
The AAC postseason tournament starts Thursday, Feb. 22, at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport. The Buffs will play Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and will advance to play Friday and Saturday contingent on a victory on the previous day.