Men’s Basketball edged in regular season finale at Johnson (Tenn.)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (February 19, 2022) – The Milligan University men's basketball team went back-and-forth with Johnson (Tenn.) in a game that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, but ultimately the Royals came out on top with a 77-71 victory in the regular season finale on Saturday.

Milligan falls to 6-21 on the year and 5-19 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. Johnson rises to 8-20, 6-18 AAC.

Neither team owned a lead larger than three points through the first 12 minutes of regulation as the game was tied at seven, nine, 12 and 14.

The Buffs finally broke through to establish a two possession lead when an Alex Inman layup was followed by a three by Alex Chambers to put Milligan ahead 27-21 with 7:50 to play in the half. The next five points came from Milligan as two minutes later with Levontae Knox converting a putback and Josh Thomas drained a three on the next trip down the floor to go up 32-21 with five minutes left in the first half.

Johnson responded with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to four (33-29) with three minutes left in the half, but Adam Graham's three with just over a minute left in the period gave Milligan a 36-29 lead going into halftime.

The Royals worked Milligan's' edge down to three points 38-35 in the first four minutes of the second half, but Finn McClure and Knox recorded back-to-back baskets to lead by seven. Milligan's lead grew to nine points three times in the first seven minutes of the second half, but the each time the Royals prevented the Buffs from leading by double digits.

Johnson tied the game at 56 and took a 57-56 lead on a pair of free throws with 7:15 left in regulation. McClure and Johnson's Calvin Quehl traded three-point makes and Knox tied the game at 60 with 5:15 remaining. Two free throws by Sami Sanad tied the game at 62 with four minutes to play.

Johnson scored twice to go ahead 66-62 with two minutes left. Knox split a pair of free throws and then cashed a layup with 1:31 left to reduce Johnson's advantage to 66-65. Out of a timeout, Johnson buried a three to go up four with just over a minute to play in regulation.

The Royals led 72-65 with 36 seconds left, but two quick Milligan scores brought the score to 72-69 with 26 seconds to play. The Buffs cut the lead to 73-71 with 16 seconds left, but Johnson sank four-straight free throws to clinch the 77-71 win.

Knox led the charge for the Buffs with 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. McClure had 13 points and Graham chipped in 11.

Milligan outrebounded Johnson 45-38 and shot 42.6 percent from the field compared to 37.9 percent for the Royals.

The Buffs are the No. 12 seed heading into next week's AAC Tournament. Milligan will travel to the fifth seed for a first round matchup on Monday night.