The Milligan Men’s basketball team suffered a tough loss Wednesday, Nov. 6 to Bluefield College. The game was the Buffaloes’ home opener and their first Appalachian Athletic Conference game.
Red shirt senior, Tyler Nichols led the Buffs in scoring with 23 points. Senior Desean Green had 15 points. Green also had the most assists with five, and red shirt senior Jacob Cawood led in rebounds with nine.
From the start, Milligan and Bluefield went back and forth scoring, never letting the other stay in the lead for longer than a few minutes. With six minutes left in the first half, the score was tied 26-26. Then Bluefield went on a 21-0 scoring run to end the half 47-26.
Within the first six minutes of the second half, Milligan went on a 17-2 scoring run, trailing Bluefield by only four points. With nine minutes left in the game, freshman Matt Cole made a field goal to tie the game 51-51. The Buffs and Rams continued to score back and forth until the final seconds of the game.
With 12 seconds left in the game, Cawood sank a three pointer to put the Buffs in the lead 68-67. Bluefield’s D’monte Evans made a field goal with five seconds left, making the score 69-68, but the Buffs were unable to respond making the score final.
Milligan’s Men’s Head Coach, Bill Robinson talked about his team making a come back in the second half. “They came out and played with a sense of urgency,” he said. “We didn’t panic, and the team seemed more focused in the second half.”
Robinson also talked about some issues from the game, saying that free throws needed more work. He said they would continue to work on them and get better, not making them a bigger emphasis, but more repetitions.
Robinson added that the team did an excellent job at staying positive when they were down by 19 points. He said he they kept fighting and did not give up, which showed their true character as a team.
Robinson noted that this was only their second game. “It’s early in the season, the coaching staff is still trying to put some pieces together and figure things out,” he said. “But they [the team] are a great group of guys, and we will be ready for anything.”
The Buffs will be on the road for their next three games. They will return to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 20 to compete in an AAC match-up against Montreat College at 7:30 p.m.
Headline photo: The Milligan Men’s Basketball team played against Bluefield on Wednesday, Nov. 6.