Men’s Basketball earns 81-64 win at Johnson

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (January 1, 2023) – The Milligan University men's basketball team defeated Johnson (Tenn.) 81-64 to earn an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) victory on Tuesday evening.

The Buffs open the 2023 calendar year with a win to move back to .500 in AAC play (5-5) and to 5-8 overall. Johnson falls to 1-13, 1-9 AAC.

The first 12 minutes of action saw the teams tied on six separate occasions with neither squad leading by more than four points. The Buffs broke through with a 12-0 run to take a 31-21 lead with just under four minutes to play in the half. Five different players scored during the spurt. The Royals battled back to a three-point halftime margin with Milligan leading 35-32.

A three-pointer by Finn McClure in the opening minutes of the second half grew the Buffs' lead to 42-34. The Royals drew back within two at 43-41 and 45-43 before the Buffs separated to a nine-point edge (57-48) midway through the second half.

After Johnson narrowed the score to 59-55, Sami Sanad converted a layup, Dylan Bartley made three free throws, Sanad added a jumper and Levontae Knox added another bucket to give the Buffs a 68-55 edge with 4:44 remaining.

Sam Gold, Knox, Sanad and Flynn Carlson added late baskets to keep the Buffs ahead by double-digits the rest of the way. Carlson punctuated the game with a two-handed dunk off a feed by Drew Greene that put Milligan ahead by 15 (79-64) in the final 90 seconds.

Bartley led Milligan with 17 points on the evening. Sanad finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

McClure, Carlson and Knox had 10 points apiece. McClure added five points and three assists, Carlson had six rebounds and four blocks and Knox added a team high seven boards.

The Buffs won the rebounding battle 47-38 and shot 48.5 percent from the field while Johnson shot 29.7 percent. Despite connecting on just four three-pointers, the Buffs held Johnson to four-of-30 (13.3 percent) from deep.

Milligan travels to Point on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff.