COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Milligan University men's basketball squad continued their fight for the tenth spot in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament on the road at Columbia International University on Saturday evening. Reinhardt (Ga.), who currently holds the tenth spot, lost their contest to open the proverbial door for Milligan. However, CIU built a slim lead in the first half and ran away with the game in the second to end MU's hope to play in the post-season. The Buffs ended up losing by a final score of 110-89.

The high-stakes bout started with an exchange of baskets, as Liviu Anton scored the first points for the Buffs with a jumper to make the score 2-2. Then, CIU scored 13 of the next 22 points to take a 15-7 lead at the 15:51 mark. The Buffs responded with six straight points, but the Rams continued to score extending their lead to 24-16 just under the 10-minute mark. Milligan cut the deficit down to two points at 34-32 with four minutes to play after Zack Turner nailed a triple and eventually took the lead after an Elijah Bredwood three with two minutes left. However, in the final two minutes, CIU added two buckets to take a 42-39 lead into the halftime break.

Milligan's defense struggled to stop Columbia International's offense in the second half forcing them to try and keep pace with a strong offensive attack. Anton once again opened the scoring to start the half for the Buffs, making a layup to bring the Buffs within one at 42-41. CIU would extend their lead back to eight at the 14:55 mark behind a strong offense. Their lead grew to 16 at 74-58 with less than 10 minutes to play. Milligan would trim the deficit down to eight with 6:41 to play, after Bredwood made a layup. However, CIU continued to score and extended the lead back to 16 at 93-77 with less than five minutes remaining. At the 3:07 mark the Rams buried a triple to take a 22-point lead at 103-83. In the final three minutes, the Buffs fought until the very end, but it was not enough as the Rams would capture the victory by a final score of 110-89.

Bredwood led all scorers in the contest with 26 points on 9-of-26 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-11 from three. He was followed by Anton, who poured in 15 points with a 6-of-14 conversion rate, including a three-point shot. Turner (13), Jake Benham (13) and Te'Jon McDaniel-McCormick (10) also scored in double figures in the loss.

Bo Koebbe led the team with four assists. Turner and Bredwood dished out two, while Benham and Grant Hensley had one each.

Bredwood was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine to lead Milligan. Anton reeled in six and Koebbe hauled in five. Benham snatched three and Hensley and Sergej Cvetkovic were next with two. Both Turner and Stefan Janevski had one to reach the 29 total in the contest.

It was Bredwood who took the ball away from CIU twice to lead the team and McDaniel-McCormick did so once. The Buffs did not record a block during the game.

With the loss, Milligan (8-19, 6-12 AAC) is now eliminated from the AAC Tournament. They still have one game remaining on Sunday, Feb. 22 against Tennessee Wesleyan to close out their season on a high note. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.