Buffs Men's Basketball Outpaces St. Andrews with Strong Second Half

LAURINBURG, N.C. - The Milligan University men's basketball team hit the road on Monday to face off with the Knights of St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C. The battle was the final counting contest of the first semester for the Buffaloes, as they overcame a slow start to notch a decisive 79-62 triumph on the road.

The first half was a tale of three parts, as the opening part was a 19-12 Milligan deficit after the first 7:47 of competition. The Knights were shooting the ball well at that point in the period, but that would change shortly, as the Buffs authored a 24-6 run over a span of 8:24 to take a 36-25 lead in the second part. The last of three parts was another St. Andrews burst that saw them score a 15-2 run over the last 3:33 of the first period. They entered the break with a slim 40-38 advantage over the Buffs. Both teams ended up with highly respectable shooting clips in the opening half, as the Buffs shot 15-of-32 (46.9%) and the Knights produced a 16-of-32 mark (50%).

Following a bucket by the Knights to start the second half, the Buffaloes fashioned a streak of 14 straight points between the 19:04 and 15:16 marks of the period. St. Andrews would never recover from the final huge run of the day by Milligan, as the bout ended in a 79-62 victory for the Buffs. The shooting numbers from the half depicted the same story, as Milligan was red hot at 16-of-29 (55.2%) in the half, while the Knights limped to an ugly 9-of-32 (28.1%) line in the latter half.

Milligan employed the strategy of getting the rock to Handje Tamba near the basket, as he accounted for a team-best 18 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting clip. Additionally, he connected on his first three-point shot of the season on just a single attempt. Jayme Peay scored 13 points off the bench for the Buffs in the victory, as he shot 3-of-7 from the field. He connected on one three and hit all six of his free throws in the contest. Elijah Bredwood scored 11 points as the final scorer over 10 points. He shot 4-of-7 and connected on 2-of-4 from long range. 

Lincoln Thomae showed his ability to make plays, passing out five assists. Both Sam Gold and McCaskill Rivers had three assists, while Finn McClure and Bredwood dished out a pair, apiece. Peay was responsible for the remaining assist.

Tamba notched another double-double in this one, grabbing 11 rebounds, with three of them coming on the offensive end. Peay had a strong seven boards, while Rivers had six and McClure and Gold had five each. Bredwood and Flynn Carlson had three boards apiece, with Thomae and Piripi Korent each nabbing two.

It was a defensive clinic put on by both Tamba and Peay, who both had three steals and a block in the win. McClure, Rivers and Bredwood also had single steals in the game, while Gold and Carlson had one rejection each.

With the victory, Milligan gets back to .500 at 4-4 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. Now, the Buffaloes will play a pair of exhibition matchups against NCAA Division I opponents in the next two weeks. The first of those two will be against the Western Carolina University Catamounts in Cullowhee, N.C. on Dec. 19 at 11 a.m.