MILLIGAN, Tenn. — The Milligan University men's basketball squad returned to action after a brief hiatus on Monday afternoon inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The non-conference matchup, which was originally set for Jan. 31 but had been twice rescheduled, took place against the (RV) Georgia Gwinnett College Grizzlies. After falling behind early, the Buffs attempted to work their way back into the contest but ultimately fell short, losing by a final score of 102-70.

The Buffs opened the scoring with a three pointer from Jake Benham, but the Grizzlies answered with a three on the other end to tie the score at three. From there, the Grizzlies built an eight-point lead, until a Zack Turner shot from beyond the arc slimmed the margin to five just under the 15-minute mark. Both sides traded baskets over the next couple of minutes with a tip-in layup from Sergej Cvetkovic and a jumper from Elijah Bredwood providing the points for the Buffs. From the 12:58 mark until the 7:57 mark the Grizzlies went on 10-0 scoring run that was halted by free throws from Zivko Damjanovic. The Buffs continued to battle throughout the remainder of the half but were unable to mount a run of their own and the Grizzlies scored the final four points of the half to take a 49-35 lead heading into the break. Milligan converted on 11 of their 31 field goal attempts (35.5%) in the half, while Georgia Gwinnett shot the ball on a 17-of-33 (51.5%) clip. Both teams attempted 16 shots from a distance with Buffs scoring on four of those attempts and the Grizzlies converting on eight.

MU scored the first four points of the second half on a jumper from Liviu Anton and free throws from Bredwood to cut the GGC lead to 10, but the Grizzlies responded with a three to extend their lead back to 13. The Buffs continued to play strong and keep within striking distance and with 14 minutes to play they cut the lead back to 10 following a Bredwood step-back three-point jumper and free throw from Bo Koebbe. However, an 18-8 scoring run from the Grizzlies gave them a 20-point advantage at 78-58 with less than 10 minutes left in the game. The Buffs answered with a 5-0 run behind a Koebbe jumper and Damjanovic layup, but the Grizzlies continued to score and eventually grew their lead to 25 at 94-69 with 3:19 left. With the game out of reach, Georgia Gwinnett tacked on the final seven points of the contest to cross the century mark and capture the victory by a final score of 102-70.

The Buffs were led in scoring by Bredwood, who scored 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 3-of-6 from three. He got to the foul line nine times in the contest and made seven of the nine attempts. Both Anton (13) and Te'Jon McDaniel-McCormick (10) reached double-digit scoring on efficient shooting lines. Anton finished 4-of-5 from the field and McDaniel-McCormick went 5-of-6. Overall, the squad shot 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the field and a less than optimal 7-of-26 (26.9%) from the three-point line.

Jake Benham and Turner each dished out four assists in the loss to lead the team. Bredwood dished out two dimes, while McDaniel-McCormick and Damjanovic each had one assist for the 12 total.

Cvetkovic was cleaning the glass for the Buffs, amassing seven rebounds to lead the team. McDaniel-McCormick hauled in five boards and both Anton and Koebbe reeled in three. The trio of Turner, Benham, and Stefan Janevski each had two to reach the 28 total rebounds collected by Milligan.

Milligan had eight thefts in the contests led by Cvetkovic, Turner and Benham with two, while Janevski and Bredwood each took the ball away once. Damjanovic recorded the lone rejection for Milligan.

The Buffs (6-16, 4-9 AAC) will now look forward to returning to conference play where they have won their last two contests. On Wednesday Feb. 11 Milligan will travel to Spartanburg Methodist for an AAC contest with the Pioneers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.