Men’s Basketball edged in final minute by Union

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (January 11, 2022) – The Milligan University men's basketball team pushed the defending Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament champion Union to the brink, but fell in the final seconds 68-65 at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

Milligan falls to 2-12, 1-10 in the AAC as Union moves to 11-6 (9-2 AAC).

After a back-and-forth contest, the game was tied at 60 with three minutes left in regulation. Levontae Knox's layup in transition with 2:37 to go broke the tie. Piripi Korent came up with a steal in the next possessions as the game clock ticked under two minutes. Markelle Turner provided his own clutch basket with a pull-up three in transition to put the Bulldogs ahead 63-62.

Needing a stop down one, Trevor Hensley came up with a tipped pass and went coast-to-cast and put in an acrobatic finish, giving Milligan a 64-63 edge with 59.7 seconds left. Union had two chances for a go-ahead basket but could not cash in on either as Korent collected a rebound to end the possession.

Shooting one-and-one late, Knox converted one of two free throws as Milligan led 65-63 with under 30 seconds remaining. On the next trip down the floor, Union's Jordan Pumphrey canned a go-ahead three from the left corner with 19.3 seconds to go.

The Buffs broke their huddle out of a timeout needing a basket. A chaotic sequence in the paint resulted in a loose ball that both teams had several opportunities to collect. The ball was saved out from out of bounds by Union and into the hands of Turner, who was fouled with 1.7 seconds on the clock. Turner converted both free throws and Union escaped with a 68-65 victory.

Milligan opened the basketball game with a 6-0 lead after four minutes of action with four points from Knox and a jumper by Hensley. Union trimmed the lead to a single point (8-7) two minutes later, but back-to-back baskets by Hensley and consecutive baskets by Korent keyed an 8-2 spurt to push Milligan ahead 16-9 midway through the first half.

The game stayed within a five-point margin either way for the final 9:44 of the half. Milligan led 24-19 after a Sami Sanad jumper, but Union scored five of the next six points to take a 26-25 lead with three minutes left in the half. The first half only featured two lead changes and all three ties of the period came in the final two-and-a-half minutes at 27, 29 and 31. The teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 31.

A steal by Hensley on the opening possession of the half led to an acrobatic layup by Knox in transition to give Milligan the first lead of the second half. Knox knifed through for another layup to give Milligan a 37-36 edge with 17:34 to play after Union took its first lead of the second half with a Markelle Turner three.

Out of a timeout, Knox scored on a backdoor feed from Hensley and Josh Thomas drew a charge on the ensuing defensive possession. Knox dropped a pass off for a wide open Thomas layup and Flynn Carlson cut for a contested layup as the Buffs' lead grew to 44-38 with 14 minutes left in regulation with a 9-1 run.

Korent extended the Buffs' advantage to eight with five-straight points on a putback and right-angled three. Union regrouped with a triple of its own on the other end and called timeout trailing 49-44 with 11:36 to play.

Union crept within three points on four different occasions over the next several minutes, and each time Milligan had an answer until the Bulldogs cashed in on back-to-back baskets to make it a 55-54 game with 7:25 remaining.

Turner gave Union its first lead since early in the second half with a tough layup through contact, giving the visitors a 56-55 edge with 6:30 left. Korent promptly converted a pair of free throws to take a one point lead. Gabriel was freed up for his first three of the night with a right corner make in transition to put Milligan up 60-56 4:42 left.

Union refused to go quietly as the Bulldogs scored the next four points to tie the game at 60 with three minutes to play, setting the stage for the final sequence.

Knox finished 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Korent had 15 points and six rebounds. Hensley notched 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Turner led three union players in double figures with 23 points.

Milligan outshot Union from the field (42.9 percent to 36.1 percent) but the Bulldogs made seven-of-21 threes while Milligan was two-of-14 from deep.

The game was extremely close statistically as the difference between either team's rebound total, turnover total, bench points and free throw attempts was one.

Milligan hosts St. Andrews on Saturday afternoon.