Milligan defeats St. Andrews in final play

LAURINBURG, N.C. (Jan. 2, 2020) — After 40 minutes of tight back and forth play, Micah Paulk scored the game winning basket with a three pointer at the buzzer to give the Milligan College men's basketball team an 80-77 victory over St. Andrews University Thursday afternoon. 

A foul by Jacob Cawood sent St. Andrews to the foul line with two seconds left and the Buffs down by one. The free throw was missed and Desean Green was able to get the ball to Paulk to score the game winning shot. 

Game flow 

Milligan took an early lead with a triple by Bo Pless and continued to increase their lead by as many as nine in the first half. The Buffs held onto the lead the entire first half until the Knights tied the score twice with less than two minutes left in the half. 

St. Andrews took their first lead of the game with 17 minutes left in the second half. The rest of the half would consist of each team heading one another and the biggest lead coming from Milligan with six points. Both teams were tied at 70 with five minutes left before the Knights took the lead with a triple by Jamaan Bailey. St. Andrews would remain in the lead the rest of the game until the buzzer beating shot by Paulk. 

Game leaders 

Pless led the Buffs in the scoring column with 18 points. Three other Buffs made it to double digit scoring, Paulk finished the night with 13 and Tyler Nichols and Green had 11 apiece. Green accounted for a double-double on the night with 10 rebounds as well. Green's game winning assist added to him having a game high of eight assists.

Up next 

The Buffs return home for another Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup against Reinhardt University on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 4 p.m.