DAYTON, Tenn. — The Milligan University men's basketball squad continued Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play on the road in Dayton, Tenn. against the Lions of Bryan College on Saturday afternoon. After falling behind by 15 points in the first half, Milligan had a threatening comeback in the second that fell short, as they lost by a final score of 84-70.
The Lions scored the first points of the game, but the Buffaloes responded with a three-point basket from
Grant Hensley to take the lead 3-2. Both sides traded baskets over the next five minutes of gameplay, with brothers Iziah Bredwood (Lions) and
Elijah Bredwood (Buffs) exchanging layups. From there, Bryan built an eight-point lead at 21-13 just prior to the ten-minute mark of the half. Milligan responded with a pair of free throws from Bredwood and a jumper from
Liviu Anton to slim the margin to five points, but a quick 5-0 burst from Bryan put Milligan behind by 10 points and forced them to take a timeout with eight minutes remaining. For the remainder of the half, MU struggled to slow down the BC offense and a buzzer beater to end the half for the Lions extended their lead to 46-31 heading into the locker room.
To start the second half Milligan could not halt the momentum that Bryan had built, as the Lions scored the first points and extended the lead to 21 at 57-36 with 16 minutes to play. However, the Buffs would not go away as
Sergej Cvetkovic powered a comeback effort behind four shots from behind the arc and a layup within an eight-minute span to bring MU within 11 points at 65-54 with eight minutes to play.
Stefan Janevski brought the Buffs within single digits with a layup and less than a minute later scored another basket to cut the margin to seven at 67-60, but the Lions answered with back-to-back buckets to take a 71-60 lead with five minutes to play. Down the stretch, both sides traded baskets and despite late pressure from MU their comeback effort fell short, as the Lions capitalized at the free throw line and the Buffs fell by a final score of 84-70.
A team-best 15 points were scored by Cvetkovic, who was an offensive weapon in the second half, notching an efficient 6-of-10 clip from the field. Three Buffs in
Te'Jon McDaniel-McCormick,
Stefan Janevski, and
Bo Koebbe followed with nine points.
Elijah Bredwood and
Liviu Anton added eight, while
Zack Turner tacked on five. Overall, the unit shot 25-of-62 (40.3%).
Nine MU players recorded an assist led by Anton, McDaniel-McCormick and Turner with three. The six remaining players each recorded one assist to reach the 15 total that were accumulated.
Koebbe matched his career-high with nine rebounds in the bout, while McDaniel-McCormick (5) and Cvetkovic (3) hauled in the next most boards. The trio of
Elijah Bredwood, Anton and Turner reeled in two. Overall, they finished with 29 rebounds as a team.
The Buffs had nine steals, as Turner and Janevski led with two takeaways. Three shots were sent back by three different Buffs in
Jake Benham, McDaniel-McCormick and Turner.
Milligan (4-13, 2-7 AAC) has now lost seven straight AAC matchups and 10 of their last 11 games overall. They will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday, Jan. 14 when they return home to face the Bears of Truett McConnell University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
