Milligan Men's Basketball Shoots the Lights out in Triumph over Montreat

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – On Wednesday night, the Milligan University men's basketball squad faced off with another competitor near the top of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) standings. The Buffaloes played host to the Montreat College Cavaliers, who sat just above them in the standings entering play. In an offensive breakout, the Buffs had their way with the Montreat defense, scoring a 99-82 triumph inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. 

The opening half of play saw the Buffaloes hit their shots at a tremendous 16-of-28 (57.1%) clip, including a stellar 7-of-11 (63.6%) line from distance. Meanwhile, their defense held the Cavs to just 13-of-37 (35.1%) from the field to begin the contest. Milligan reached their largest lead of the half at 15 points with 7:26 to play. They led 32-17 at that point, before heading to the locker room with a 46-34 advantage.  

As if the first half was not prolific enough, Milligan shot the orange at 22-of-30 (73.3%) in the second half to push their overall total to 38-of-58 (65.5%). Nothing that Montreat would do offensively was enough to keep pace with the scalding hot Buffs offense. The Buffaloes reached their largest lead of the contest at 77-59 with 8:39 to go and would end up with a 17-point win, 99-82.  

McCaskill Rivers posted a career-high 30 points in the victory, as he had a highly efficient night from the floor. He shot 12-of-17 overall, while adding two three-pointers on three tries. He also went 4-of-4 at the charity stripe. Finn McClure's shooting prowess was on display, as he went 6-of-7 with 16 points. Sam Gold added 13 points, while knocking down 4-of-7. Luke Lentz, Elijah Bredwood and Jayme Peay also had 10 points each. 

Bredwood dished out six assists in the win to lead the way for Milligan. Gold and Rivers added three each, while McClure provided two. Lentz, Peay and Handje Tamba had the remaining three.  

Gold had 10 rebounds to secure himself his first double-double of the season. Rivers added nine boards, narrowly missing the same accolade. Peay supplied seven for the Buffaloes, with McClure adding three and Tamba providing two. Lentz and Flynn Carlson were responsible for the other two.  

Milligan rejected 10 shots and had seven thefts on the defensive end in the victory. Peay had a career-best five blocks and added a steal. Rivers had two steals and a block, while Bredwood had two steals and Gold had two rejections. Tamba picked up one of each, as McClure nabbed a steal and Carlson notched the last block. 

The season will continue for the Buffaloes on Saturday, Feb. 1 with another home battle against another AAC opponent, Columbia International University, at 4 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.