By: Matt Haren and Matt Goehner Photo By: Kelsey Teel
The Buffaloes welcomed the St. Andrews University Knights to the Steve Lacy Field house only to trample in both the men’s and women’s basketball games Tuesday night.
The ladies jumped out to a hot start with a 10-2 run and at one point controlled a 31-11 advantage. They used a steady barrage of scoring to control the first half tempo and raced to the locker room with a 46-23 lead.
After the half, the ladies picked up right where they left off. Senior Dorian Freeman came out showing that the Buffs were not going to allow a second-half slump. She scored Milligan’s first four points of the half. Each time the Lady Knights attempted a run, the Lady Buffaloes’ combination of full-court press and 2-3 zone defense snuffed it out. The lead ballooned to 66-37 with 11 minutes to go. The Lady Buffs’ starters were able to call it an early night as the backups took over to close out the contest. The final in the dominating performance was Milligan 81 and St. Andrews 53.
The men’s nightcap featured the 16-7 Buffaloes and the 0-18 Knights. Scrappy St. Andrews jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Milligan responded with an 11-2 run that put them ahead to stay.
Guards Mickey Woods and Cartree Pettis set the tempo early with their quick, physical defense. The Knights were able to cut the Milligan advantage to 24-19 with a 7-2 run but Kirk Brooks squashed it with a rainbow 3-pointer.
St. Andrews’ offense appeared to spark with back-to-back 3-pointers but a Morgan McLeod jumper and a heavy dose of man-to-man defense doused the fire. The lead hovered around 10 points for the remainder of the half and the Buffs reached halftime with a 44-35 advantage.
St. Andrews raced out of the locker room and cut the lead to six at 50-44. Milligan launched an 11-2 run over the next four minutes and effectively put the game out of reach.
Senior Tyler Devault led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds while Pettis and Corey Hendren chipped in 15 points each in the ensuing rout. By the eight-minute mark the Buffaloes were rolling with a 71-50 lead. The advantage was 86-56 with still nearly three minutes to play. The starters watched most of the last three minutes as the Buffaloes closed out a 91-57 home floor win.
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