MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Milligan University's men's basketball squad did battle with the Union Commonwealth University (Ky.) Bulldogs on Saturday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse with designs on nabbing a second straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) triumph. They did exactly that, displaying a large amount of grit in a hard-fought 76-69 win over the Bulldogs.
Milligan trailed or were tied for most of the first half, as they did not take their first advantage until the 2:26 mark remaining in the period. At that point, they led 36-34, and they would never trail again for the remainder of the stanza. Both teams shot the ball particularly well, with the Buffaloes notching a better clip at 18-of-28 (64.3%). The Bulldogs shot 55.2% at 16-of-29 in the half, as the Buffaloes led by six at the intermission, 44-38.
A war of attrition took place in the early stages of the second half, with both squads shooting under 50% through the opening 10 minutes. The Buffs struggled a bit more, only sinking three field goals in that span on 11 tries. At the 10-minute mark, Milligan turned on the gas, as they went from down 56-55 to ahead 65-58 with 6:57 to go. That led to a Bulldogs timeout, but UCU had lost their shooting touch at that point, scoring just four points between the 10:00 and 4:00-minute marks. It was another gritty win for the Buffaloes, battling through early second-half shooting woes to another AAC victory, 76-69.
Elijah Bredwood continues to score the basketball, and do it efficiently, scoring 23 points in the win on a 9-of-15 shooting line.
Te'Jon McDaniel-McCormick had another double-double and poured in 18 points at 6-of-9 from the floor.
Jake Benham was able to score in double figures for the team, as well, putting up 12 points in the contest with a 3-of-8 conversion rate.
McDaniel-McCormick's team-best six assists made up nearly half of the team's 14-assist total. Bredwood doled out four dimes in the win, while Benham,
Ahmari Hicks,
Grant Hensley and
Zack Turner also had an assist apiece.
The 10 rebounds grabbed by McDaniel-McCormick were a team-high mark, and five rebounds came via
Liviu Anton. Bredwood hauled in four, Benham grabbed three, and the trio of Hicks,
Zivko Damjanovic and
Bo Koebbe provided the other three backboards in the triumph.
Milligan totaled six steals and four blocks in the tilt, with Bredwood tallying three takeaways to lead in that category. McDaniel-McCormick had two swipes, Benham recorded a pair of blocks, and Anton had one of each.
Grant Hensley blocked one attempt in his 10 minutes of action.
The victory puts Milligan at 3-3, 2-0 AAC on the season, as they now look ahead to a rescheduled contest from Nov. 15 against the Reinhardt University (Ga.) Eagles on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. in Waleska, Ga.
