Milligan’s Rally Falls Short, drop 84-75 contest against Truett McConnell

Published 9:56 pm Sunday, January 15, 2023

By Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

In front of a large home crowd, Milligan University looked to get out of its three-game slide Saturday against the Bears of Truett McConnell; however, a second-half rally came up short when a Gabriel Jackson three-pointer that appeared to be halfway down the cylinder rattled out; a three-pointer that would have made the game a one-possession contest.

Sam Gold scored first for the Buffs off an off-hand layup, but his score was followed up by a ten-point run by the Bears. Milligan would close the deficit down to two after Sami Sanad hit a running floater before the Bears would push the lead back to seven off a steal and layup by Bear Micah McAllister. A back-and-forth half would see the Buffs go on several short runs, making it a one-point game several times. Former Sullivan East standout Dylan Bartley would hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 28-28 at the six-minute mark, only to see the Bears go on a 6-0 run of their own. Bartley would tie the game again when he would hit a running, spinning layup at the 1:34 mark of the half. Ball security for the Buffs, which would be an issue all day, would prevent them from tying the game up in the last two minutes but would see them only trail by two heading into the locker room.

Milligan would take a short-lived lead to start the second half at 42-38 after an assist from Bartley to Carson Flynn would lead to a dunk bringing the Buff crowd to its feet. The next several minutes would see the two teams trade leads and see several ties, the Bears at the 8:30 mark would go on a seven-point run, pushing a tight game to 59-52. Levontae Knox would cut the lead to five after an acrobatic layup at the 2:42 mark but could do no more than keep it a two-possession game for the remainder of the contest.

Sam Gold would score 17 on the day for the Buffs, while Dylan Bartley would add 13 and Sami Sanad would chip in 11. The Buffs would shoot 52.8% from the floor for the day, but would also have 22 turnovers. Milligan fell to 5-12 on the season and 5-9 in conference play and just 1-4 in the new year. They will host Kentucky Christian Tuesday night directly after the Lady Buff’s game. The game time is 7:30.