Buffaloes Men's Basketball Holds on Late in AAC Triumph over Johnson

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University men's basketball squad entered Saturday's Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest against the Johnson University Royals having last played a counting game on Dec. 16 against St. Andrews. After a great first half, the Buffaloes were able to hold on to their advantage throughout the second, eventually coming away with a hard-fought 76-74 triumph. 

After trailing 3-0 early, Milligan would regain the lead and never relinquish it after 20 minutes of play. At one point, the Buffs extended their advantage to as many as eight points at 28-20 with 6:31 left to play. The two sides played an even last six minutes and change to enter the locker room with a 36-29 MU lead. A 14-of-29 half shooting the rock by Milligan, compared to a 13-of-33 clip for Johnson, led to the Buffs' modest edge. 

In the contest's second half, Milligan started strong, extending their lead to 19 points at the 14:56 mark at 53-34. From then on, however, Johnson rallied with a 13-2 run over the next 2:16 to slice the advantage by 11 points. The Royals weren't done, as they kept whittling down the deficit, eventually reaching a 69-68 score with 3:46 to play. Then, they were able to get the score to 72-71 with 1:30 to go. Luckily for the Buffaloes, Johnson was never able to surpass them, as a clutch jumper by McCaskill Rivers and two free throws from Finn McClure gave the Buffs a 76-71 advantage with just seven seconds left. A meaningless three-point shot at the buzzer by the Royals made the final 76-74 in Milligan's favor. 

Handje Tamba scored 22 points to lead the Buffaloes' offensive attack. He was an uber-efficient 9-of-12 from the field, and sunk his lone three-point try. Rivers came away with a 17-point night, scoring on six of his 14 shot attempts. Jayme Peay and Sam Gold (11 points each) were the other two Milligan scorers over the 10-point mark. They combined to shoot 8-of-18 from the field. 

McClure and Peay teamed up to provide eight assists with four each, leading the squad. Rivers passed out three dimes, while Elijah Bredwood and Lincoln Thomae provided the other two. 

Another double-double was registered by Tamba, as he supplied 10 rebounds for Milligan. Peay nearly reached double-double status, as well, notching nine backboards. Rivers hauled in a quartet on the glass, with both McClure and Gold provided three. Bredwood grabbed a pair and Luke Lentz and Thomae grabbed the remaining two. 

The Buffaloes had just two steals in the game from Tamba and Bredwood, but sent back seven shots. Tamba was responsible for more than half of the rejections, picking up four in the win. Peay, Bredwood and Piripi Korent were responsible for the rest of the blocked shots. 

Milligan's season continues on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Athens, Tenn. against the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs, as the Buffaloes look for their third straight AAC victory.