Aaron Levarity registered his 20th double-double and the Milligan College men’s basketball team picked up their 20th win of the season with an 89-70 victory over Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Point University Tuesday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
Tied at 17 with 11:41 remaining in the first half, the Buffaloes (20-7, 15-6 AAC) put together an 18-3 run to open up the contest and retake the lead for good. Will Buckner started the surge at the 11:41 mark with a layup and Jacob Cawood ended it with a layup of his own with 4:09 remaining in the half.
Milligan held Point (7-21, 5-16 AAC) scoreless for over five minutes during the stretch. During the run, Tyler Nichols score seven points, Levarity scored five, Buckner scored two, Bo Pless scored two and Cawood scored two.
The Buffs led by 17 at the break and opened the second half on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 22 points. Milligan eventually led by 26 in the second period which would mark their largest lead of the contest.
BY THE NUMBERS
Levarity poured in 30 points, hauled in 14 rebounds, dished out three assists, recorded two steals and blocked two shots in yet another dominating performance for the senior from Freeport, Bahamas. The senior finished 11-of-15 from the field and made all eight of his free throw attempts. Levarity currently ranks within the top five of six national statistical categories and leads the AAC in six statistical categories.
Four other Buffs joined Levarity in double figures led by Mike Featherston and Nichols who accumulated 13 points each on the night. Featherston also brought down six rebounds. Buckner and Pless rounded out the four Buffs in double figures with 12 and 10 respectively. Buckner also chipped in five rebounds.
Cawood just missed out on double figures as the redshirt junior finished with eight points.
Overall, Milligan shot 48.6 percent from the field and made 18-of-23 free throw attempts. Defensively, the Buffs held Point to 23.8 percent shooting from behind the arc.
The Skyhawks were led by Jamon Moore with 24 points and six rebounds.
AAC OUTLOOK
With the win, the Buffs swept the season series with the Skyhawks after a 68-63 win on the road back on Jan. 5. Milligan remains in third place of the AAC and with one game remaining in the regular season has locked up that seed for the conference tournament next week.
UP NEXT
The Buffs will wrap up the regular season with a trip to Bluefield, Virginia, to face off against the Rams of Bluefield in an AAC contest. Milligan will then prepare for the AAC Tournament that will take place at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, Thursday, Feb. 21, through Saturday, Feb. 23.
Story and Photo courtesy of Milligan Athletics
