Men’s Basketball falls at Marshall

HUNTINGDON, W.Va. (November 15, 2021) – The Milligan University men's basketball team squared off with NCAA Division I Marshall University on Monday evening in the Cam Henderson Center. Marshall scored an 80-58 victory in the exhibition contest.

Despite playing without several starters, Milligan battled back from a 19-point first half deficit to pull within four in the second half before the hosts pulled away for the victory.

Marshall opened the game with 17 of the first 21 points over the first five-plus minutes of the contest before the Buffs composed a response. Levontae Knox drove in for a layup and Piripi Korent scored Milligan's next trip down the floor off a feed from Knox. Knox knocked down a three to cap the 7-3 spurt that trimmed Marshall's lead to 20-11 with 13:16 left in the first half.

Through the first 10 minutes of the first half, Marshall connected on six-of-11 three-pointers to build a 30-13 lead.

After the 10-minute mark of the first half, Milligan found a groove on both ends of the floor as the Buffs' outscored Marshall 15-10 over the next seven-plus minutes. Julian Wilson provided four points for the Buffs with a jumper and a pair of free throws. Alex Inman canned a floater and converted a layup in traffic. Flynn Carlson converted a step-through move and Knox scored a left-handed lay-in. Adam Graham punctuated the run with a three-pointer with under two minutes to go in the half.

Knox scored with a layup high off the glass on the Buffs' final trip of the half to send the game to halftime with a 40-28 score.

The Buffs reeled off eight-straight points to open the second half as Graham knocked down a triple at the top of the arc and a jumper in the right corner. Trevor Hensley drilled a three with 16:07 to go in the second half to make it a four-point game (40-36) after trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half.

Marshall responded with an 13-1 spurt to kickstart a 31-9 stretch to go ahead by double-digits for good. After the Herd pushed its lead its largest of the night late (77-48), the Buffs responded with a 9-0 run with baskets from Hensley and Knox and a three by Graham.

Graham scored 12 of his team high 15 points in the second half. He connected on three threes and snagged six rebounds. Knox had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Hensley scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

Milligan returns to the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse Wednesday evening for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) showdown with Tennessee Wesleyan.