Slow start dooms Buffs in home loss

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Jan. 9, 2021) – Eight Buffs entered the scoring column, led by freshman Jeffrey Selden, but the Milligan University men's basketball team lost to Columbia International University 80-64 Saturday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Milligan spotted CIU the first 12 points of the game in the 16-point defeat, falling to 5-5 (5-4 Appalachian Athletic Conference) on the season. Selden scored 11 points, with David Tripp, Trevor Hensley and Tyler Faulkenberry following with nine points apiece. Tripp added a Milligan high nine rebounds along with three assists, three blocks and one steal.

Freshman Finn McClure tallied eight points and a career high six rebounds. Jackson Gabriel scored seven.

The slow start from Milligan helped the visiting Rams build a 14-point lead in the first half, a 13-point lead at the break and a 20-point lead early in the second half, but the Buffs battled back to make it an exciting finish. An 8-0 run from Milligan over a span of four minutes midway through the second half saw Levontae Knox score a basket to make it a 12-point game, and Gabriel followed two minutes later with a 3-pointer from the right wing that made it an eight-point game.

Gabriel's triple brought Milligan to its closest point with CIU, and Milligan kept it within nine until the five-minute mark when a 4-0 CIU run put the Rams ahead by double digits for good.

Up next, Milligan hits the road for the next two games, starting with a trip to Union next Saturday. The next home game for the Buffs is set for Saturday, Jan. 23, against Tennessee Wesleyan. Home games this season can be followed online at milliganbuffs.com.