Men’s Basketball surges to 86-82 win over CIU

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (November 8, 2022) – The Milligan University men's basketball team made several key plays down the stretch to secure an 86-82 victory over CIU in the Buffs' Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) home opener on Tuesday night at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

The Buffs pick up their first win of the season and move to 1-2 on the year and 1-1 in AAC play. CIU moves to 1-2, 1-1 AAC.

Much like Milligan's AAC opener against Reinhardt, the game was a back-and-forth affair throughout and decided in the closing minutes. In total the contest featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes.

CIU owned a 41-38 halftime lead and quickly pushed its advantage to five with the opening basket of the second half. The Buffs tied the game at 44 and used a 7-0 run that was capped by a three-point play by Finn McClure to lead 51-46 with 15:47 left in the second half.

After CIU tied the game at 54 with 13:38 left, an 8-0 that featured contributions from Adam Graham, Drew Greene and Eli Walls pushed Milligan ahead 62-54 with 12 minutes to go.

CIU rallied to take a 72-71 and then 74-71 edge with under five minutes left. McClure cut the margin to one (78-77) with a lay-in and then drained a three to give Milligan an 80-78 lead. After the Rams tied the game with under two minutes left, Dylan Bartley knocked down two free throws to give Milligan an 82-80 edge.

Flynn Carlson blocked CIU's game-tying attempt and Levontae Knox converted a layup on the other end to put Milligan up four. CIU had the ball down two in the final 10 seconds but were unable to get a shot off as the Buffs turned the rams over and Carlson converted a pair of free throws to clinch the game.

The two teams were within two possessions for virtually the entire first half with Milligan owning a seven-point lead briefly (26-19) before CIU battled back to tie the game at 28.

The Buffs shot 52.8 percent from the field and made 27-of-36 free throws on the evening. Milligan outrebounded CIU 33-27 and turned the Rams over 15 times.

McClure led Milligan with 18 points and four assists. Bartley made eight free throws on his way to 16 points. Knox finished with 13 points on nine shots with three assists. Graham had 12 points off the bench on four-of-four shooting from the floor and the foul line.

All 10 Buffs who played scored at least three points on the evening.

Milligan travels to NCAA Division I Mercer on Friday evening.