Clutch plays help Buffs beat Cavs in OT

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2021) – Levontae Knox scored a tough basket with under one second to go in regulation to force overtime before Josh Thomas scored a tough basket late in overtime to give the Buffaloes the final lead, all in leading the Milligan University men's basketball team to a 98-91 victory over Montreat Wednesday night at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Milligan erased a nine-point second-half deficit and five-point deficit with under 1:40 to go in regulation to complete the season sweep of the Cavaliers after defeating them 88-83 on Dec. 12.

"This was a great team win tonight for the Buffs," Head Coach Bill Robinson said after the game. "I'm really proud of my bench as they stepped up and played great. Hopefully this will give us some momentum going into the conference tournament."

Late-game plays leading Buffs to win

Knox's overtime-forcing basket was made possible by a few other clutch plays in the last two minutes of regulation. With the Buffs down five with 1:45 left following an and-one from Montreat at the other end, Jackson Gabriel answered with a big three from the corner, assisted by Finn McClure from the baseline, to make it a two-point game.

Milligan then got a stop at the other end, and Jeffrey Selden tied the game with another basket assisted by McClure.

Montreat then retook the lead with a layup with under 20 seconds to go, followed by misses from both teams on their next possessions. This brought the clock under six seconds, and set up Knox for a coast-to-coast basket where he drove past two defenders to score with under one second to go.

Knox did not stop there. He led all scorers in overtime with six points, going 3-for-3 with one rebound in the extra five minutes.

Game tallies

Six Buffaloes made it to double figures, led by Trevor Hensley with 17 points. Knox scored 15, Gabriel and Selden followed with 14 points, Tyler Faulkenberry scored 13, and McClure scored 10. Selden's 14 points marked a new career high as he went 5-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from two-point range.

Thomas led Milligan's rebounding effort with a career high 13 rebounds, including nine on the defensive end. McClure added seven assists alongside only two turnovers with a career high five steals.

For Montreat, Alex Lineberger led the scoring with 21 points, the first of four Cavaliers in double figures. JaJa Davis had 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Up next

Milligan turns its attention to the AAC tournament, set to begin Saturday with the play-in round at host sites, followed by the quarterfinal stage next week in Kingsport. The AAC will announce the tournament seeding and bracket on Thursday.