MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat men's basketball team closed out its 3-game homestand Saturday afternoon by playing host to one of its Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) rivals, the Milligan University Buffaloes. Despite shooting lights out from deep early, the Cavaliers couldn't keep up with the Buffs as they dropped an 82-67 ballgame and fell to 12-8 (10-7 AAC) in the process.
 
The Cavs controlled the opening minutes of the initial half thanks to a few sequences of hot 3-point shooting. After Milligan scored the opening basket, Jamiel Wright and Darius Bryant connected on a pair of triples to kickstart a 9-0 Montreat run over 1:22. Then, after the Buffaloes responded with a quick 8-0 spurt of their own, Bryant buried two more 3-pointers to stake the hosts out to a 15-10 lead less than five minutes into the game. Tyler Murray added another 3-pointer moments later as the Cavaliers opened the afternoon 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
 
Milligan (8-13, 8-10 AAC) started to establish itself on the defensive end over the latter half of the frame, and it helped the visitors retake the lead. The Buffaloes went on a 9-2 run and simultaneously held the Cavaliers to a 1-for-11 shooting stretch that also featured 4:45 without a Cavalier point. Elochukwu Eze ended the Montreat scoreless stretch with a pair of free throws to trim the home side's deficit to 23-22 with 7:51 remaining in the half.
 
Jarden Maze, Tyler Rodrigue and Michael Erbeck kept the Cavs' 3-point shooting bonanza going late in the half, but Milligan entered the intermission with a 39-37 lead thanks to a 50.0-percent shooting effort from the field (11-22 FG) and 11 free throw makes on 15 attempts (73.3 percent).
 
Montreat took 12 more shots than the Buffaloes in the opening half (34-22) thanks in large part to 11 offensive rebounds, which resulted in an 8-2 advantage in second-chance points; however, the Cavaliers struggled from the floor overall by going 12-for-34 (35.3 percent). Both teams hit the 40.0-percent clip from beyond the arc as the Cavs made nine of their 21 tries from deep (42.9 percent), and the Buffs hit on six of their 15 attempts (40.0 percent). Bryant led the Cavs in scoring at the half with nine points, while Maze added eight points. Eze hauled in a team-high four rebounds in his 12 minutes of action.
 
Milligan wasted no time in expanding its halftime margin as the visitors utilized a 7-0 spurt in just 1:53 to surge ahead by nine points (46-37). Mike Flenory stopped the run and gave the Cavaliers their first points of the half 2:20 into the frame.
 
After both teams suffered 3-minute-long field goal droughts, Rodrigue and Tyler Murray connected from beyond the arc in less than a minute to suddenly pull the hosts within a point at 50-49; however, the narrow margin didn't last long as the Buffaloes answered with another 7-0 run in 1:16 to grow their lead out to 57-49 with under 12 minutes left in regulation.
 
The Buffs nearly put the game away thanks to another strong defensive stretch paired with some rough shooting from the hosts. Milligan extended its lead out to 70-56 with only 4:09 remaining as it held the Cavs without a field goal for 6:17. The Cavaliers went 0-for-7 from the field and 3-for-6 at the line while committing two turnovers during the drought. Maze ended the drought with a tough runner off the glass with 3:41 left in the contest.
 
Montreat pulled within single digits once down the stretch after a 6-0 span brought the score to 70-62 with 3:11 on the clock. Unfortunately for the hosts, Milligan drew plenty of fouls and attempted a plethora of free throws to help seal the rivalry victory. The Buffaloes drew 28 fouls in total and attempted 41 free throws, including 26 in the second half, to clinch an 82-67 win over Montreat.
 
"When you get outrebounded, it's hard to win games," said head coach Anthony Barringer. "I felt like Milligan had more of a sense of urgency than we did, and they played more as a team… I thought we had spurts where we played hard, but we just didn't do what we normally do every day."
 
Milligan concluded the night with higher shooting percentages than the Cavaliers across the board. The Buffaloes went 19-of-42 overall (45.2 percent), 10-for-27 from deep (37.0 percent) and 34-of-41 at the free-throw line (82.9 percent). On the other side, the Cavs connected on 30.0 percent of their looks from the field (21-70 FG), 30.6 percent of their 3-point tries (11-36 3-pt FG) and 56.0 percent of their free throws (14-25 FT). Along with the shooting disparities, the visitors also controlled the glass with a 43-37 rebounding edge.
 
Maze tied for a game high with 17 points, and he was one of four Cavaliers to haul in five boards. Murray joined Maze in double figures with 12 points.
 
The Montreat men's basketball team hits the road on Tuesday to play the (RV) Bryan College Lions in its first road game since Jan. 17. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Dayton, Tenn.