MILLIGAN, Tenn. — On Monday night, the Milligan University men's basketball team took on an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent in the Reinhardt University Eagles in a game that was rescheduled from Feb. 4. The matchup inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse contained postseason implications, as the Eagles came into the contest with a half game lead over the Buffs for the tenth and final spot in the AAC tournament. After a fast start for Milligan, an offensive drought led to them trailing at half, and the Buffs eventually fell by a final score of 87-77.

Milligan started the game by scoring the first five points, after Liviu Anton made two free throws and Elijah Bredwood nailed a triple, but Reinhardt got on the board with a layup to make the score 5-2. The Buffs jumped out to a 17-4 lead just after the 15-minute mark after a 12-2 run. However, the Eagles worked their way back into the game and with 11:24 remaining, they cut the deficit down to five at 22-17. From there, the Buffs coughed the ball up to the Eagles press and could not convert on a field goal causing them to go scoreless for 7:54. Over that time span the Eagles scored 16 straight points to take the lead 33-22 with under five minutes left in the half. Te'Jon McDaniel-McCormick ended the drought on a fastbreak layup following a Stefan Janevski steal. In the final minutes, both sides traded baskets and the Eagles held a 40-31 lead going into halftime.

The second half got off to a great start for Milligan, as a McDaniel-McCormick shot from distance cut the Eagles' lead to six at 40-34. Six minutes later, Bredwood grabbed a rebound and took it the length of the court for a layup to bring the Buffs within three points at 50-47. However, turnovers from MU stopped them from getting over the hump and at the 7:59 mark the RU advantage had expanded back to 13 (67-54). The final 7:59 were physical, leading to an eventual 35 total free throw attempts, 30 of which were taken by the Eagles. Both sides traded baskets, but with just over one-minute remaining, free throws from Bredwood brought Milligan to within six points. With momentum building, it looked as if the Buffs had forced a much-needed turnover, but a foul call on the play gave the Eagles two free throw attempts. After making both free throws, the Eagles led 82-74. Then, with 35 seconds left, Sergej Cvetkovic knocked down a three-point shot to cut the lead to five. The Buffs then got a steal but gave the ball right back and were forced to foul. In the final seconds, Milligan was unable to score again and eventually fell by a final score of 87-77.

Bredwood led all scorers in the contest with 23 points and 5-of-12 shooting from three-point range. McDaniel-McCormick scored 20 by going 8-for-13 from the floor. Sergej Cvetkovic scored all nine of his points from a distance, finishing 3-for-9 overall.

MU totaled 14 assists in the loss, led by Jake Benham with five. Zack Turner was the next highest with three dimes, and McDaniel-McCormick followed him with two. Four different Buffs shared the sugar once in Bredwood, Cvetkovic, Bo Koebbe and Anton.

McDaniel-McCormick completed his 20-point double-double with 13 rebounds. Bredwood hauled in eight boards and Benham reeled in seven. Both Koebbe and Anton came down with the ball three times and Cvetkovic did so twice.

The Buffs had seven steals in the loss, led by Turner and Benham with two thefts, while McDaniel-McCormick, Bredwood and Janevski each recorded one steal, respectively.

The Buffaloes (7-18, 5-11 AAC), now need to win their three remaining conference matchups and Reinhardt to lose their last remaining AAC contest to reach the conference tournament. On Thursday, Feb. 19, Milligan will match up with Bluefield (Va.) on the road in for a must win game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.