Buffs defeat Bears in thrilling OT win 

CLEVELAND, Ga. (Jan. 25, 2020) – After trailing by 10 with five minutes left the Milligan College men's basketball team came back and defeated Truett McConnell in overtime 88-85 in Cleveland, Georgia, Saturday evening. 

Late game comeback 

With five minutes left in the second half Milligan went from trailing by 10 to going on a 14-4 run to send the game past regulation ending. The run began with Desean Green drawing a foul and sinking both of his free-throw shots, then scoring an old fashioned 3-pointer after Nathan Hastings scored a free-throw as well to put Milligan down by four. Green would not stop there as he went on to score a field goal with two and a half minutes left then a triple with a little over a minute and a half left. Green tied the game up 72-72 but a Milligan foul sent Truett's Enocka Franky to the free-throw line where he sank both of his shots to put the Bears ahead with a minute and 20 seconds left. A minute later Mike Featherston would score the tying shot to send the game into overtime. 

After several minutes of back-and-forth action, Tyler Nichols would tie the game up for the final time before Jacob Cawood scored a 3-pointer that would put Milligan ahead 81-78, and in the lead for good. Cawood would then go on to score a free-throw and a 3-pointer to increase the lead 85-80. The Bears would score five more points, with three of the points coming from a triple by Kelton Wilson at the buzzer, but Trevor Hensley was able to add three more points to the Buffs' lead by scoring three of four free-throw opportunities. 

First half flow

The first half started the back-and-forth trend with eight ties happening in the first 20 minutes of play. The Bears would take the biggest lead of the first half with a 13-5 run to put them ahead 29-21. Milligan however would return the favor and go on a 13-2 run to close the first half. Hensley would help close the run out with two triples to tie the game back up for the eighth time and put Milligan in the lead going into halftime. 

Game leaders

Four Buffs made it to double-digit scoring with Cawood leading the way with a game high of 28 points and adding seven rebounds. Green was next in the scoring column with 16 points, 10 of which came during the last five minutes of the second half. He also added eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Nichols was next with 12 points and Featherston finished things off with his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Featherston's game line also included five assists and five blocks.  

Up next

Milligan travels to Montreat College on Tuesday, Jan. 28, for an Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup. Milligan faced Montreat earlier this season and fell in overtime 90-87. Milligan is only one game behind Montreat who is tied in first place.