Men’s Basketball clipped late at CIU

COLUMBIA, S.C. (February 10, 2024) – The Milligan University men's basketball team led by five with just over five minutes left but fell 76-71 at Columbia International on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs fall to 11-11 on the season and 11-9 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. CIU, the defending AAC Tournament champion, rises to 16-9, 15-6 AAC.

The game was tied at 58 with nine minutes remaining in regulation. Sam Gold scored five-straight points with a layup and three-pointer to give the Buffs a 63-58 edge and after two CIU foul shots, Finn McClure scored to give Milligan a 65-60 lead with 5:15 left to play.

The Buffs were scoreless for nearly three minutes as CIU scored the next eight points to lead 68-65 with 2:20 remaining. Follie Bogan cut the margin to one twice in the final two minutes, but both times CIU immediately responded with a basket of its own. The Buffs had a game-tying three miss the mark in the final minute and CIU converted four foul shots in the final minute to secure the win.

Milligan trailed by eight points (17-6) in the game's first six minutes and battled back to lead by seven (36-29) late in the first half. The Buffs led 36-33 at the halftime break. The Buffs led 54-46 with 12 minutes left before the Rams worked to knot the game at 58 with nine minutes to go.

Bogan had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists. Lincoln Thomae had 10 points and eight rebounds. Gold added 10 points. McCaskill Rivers had nine points and six rebounds. McClure recorded seven points and three assists.

Milligan hosts Montreat on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.