MILLIGAN, Tenn.— The Montreat men's basketball team went on the road to Tennessee for a contest against the Milligan University Buffaloes Wednesday night. Using its most efficient shooting percentage of the season, Montreat collected an 86-69 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) triumph to improve to 13-12 overall and 10-11 in the AAC.
 
After five early lead changes resulted in the Cavaliers taking a 9-8 lead, 3-point shooting helped Montreat extend its advantage to eight (18-10) midway through the first half. The Cavs, who knocked down four of their initial eight looks from beyond the arc, utilized two 3s from Michael Erbeck and one from Tyler Murray to go up.
 
Montreat held the Buffaloes to under 30 percent shooting from the field and without a make from deep in their opening 10 attempts. Dyllan Barnwell poured in a quick six points, and Collin Mills connected on back-to-back jumpers to hand the Cavaliers a double-digit edge (26-15) with 6:16 remaining in the half.
 
Despite the large advantage for the visitors, MU (11-12, 11-10 AAC) cut its deficit to just one point thanks to a 15-5 run. RJ Manginello and Gabriel Rivera ensured the Cavs would lead 35-32 at the break. Erbeck scored nine points to captain Montreat in the first 20 minutes, while Rivera added seven. Barnwell secured six boards to go with six points as the Cavaliers grabbed a 9-rebound advantage (25-16) on the glass.
 
The Cavs also shot more efficiently (14-33 FG; 42.4 percent) than their counterparts (10-31 FG; 32.3 percent), including a 4-for-13 performance (30.8 percent) from long range compared to Milligan's 14.3 percent (2-14 3-pt FG). Montreat's effectiveness from the field and on the boards was essentially nullified by 10 free throw makes and eight points off turnovers heading into the second period.
 
Erbeck reestablished the visitors' double-digit edge with a pair of triples early in the latter half, matching the Cavs' largest lead to that point (43-32) just 2:11 into the second. The Cavaliers continued to roll in the frame due to an extremely efficient stretch to close the contest out.
 
A run of five consecutive baskets grew Montreat's lead to 14 points (59-45) as Mills and Rivera each drained two shots and Erbeck capped off the span with a layup with 11:18 on the clock. After both squads missed a series of tries, the visitors responded and finished their shooting display with another stretch of makes, this time seven straight by five different players to move ahead by 17, their biggest advantage of the night.
 
Montreat knocked down 65.4 percent of its second-half attempts (17-26 FG) to raise its field goal percentage to a season-high 52.5 percent (31-59 FG). The Cavaliers also shot 40.0 percent from 3-point land (10-25 3-pt FG). Meanwhile, Milligan struggled, making 34.4 percent overall (21-61 FG) and just 10.0 percent from deep (2-20 3-pt FG). Not only did the Cavs hold sizeable edges in shooting, but the team also captured large advantages in rebounding (46-30) and assists (17-11).

"We put an entire game together tonight and it was great to see," said head coach Anthony Barringer. "Our guys worked really hard to get stops and they played together- 17 assists is the indicator that we were sharing the ball. As we go into this final stretch of games, we want to have momentum going into the conference tournament. Tonight was a step in the right direction."
 
Individually, Rivera led all scorers with 22 points, while Erbeck concluded with 20 and Mills contributed 18. Barnwell and Mills both captured seven rebounds as seven Cavaliers snatched at least five boards. Mills and Manginello each tallied a team-high four helpers in the win.
 
Men's basketball travels to Georgia for its second of three consecutive road matchups as the Cavs battle the Reinhardt University Eagles on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.