MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (January 15, 2005) --- The Milligan College Buffaloes (10-8, 7-4 AAC) basketball team defeated Covenant (Ga.) College (6-10, 5-6 AAC) 72-59 in Appalachian Athletic Conference action Saturday evening at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

The Buffs started the game with a 6-0 run and would hold onto the lead the entire contest.

Covenant kept the game close during the first half, but Milligan pulled away towards the end of the first half. The Buffs pushed their advantage up to as many as 20 points and took a 41-23 lead into halftime.

The Scots took halftime to gather back together and it was obvious they were not going to go away quietly. Covenant opened the second half with a 10-0 run and held Milligan without a field goal for the first nine minutes. When Milligan scored the field goal, they saw their 18 point halftime lead down to a 47-42 advantage for the Buffs.

Josh Suddath hit a three point basket for the Scots with 4:30 left to cut the gap down to 58-54 but the Buffs put the game away with free throws down the stretch to hold on 72-59.

Senior forward Craig Emmert (Cass City, Mich.) for the Buffs and Josh Suddath for Covenant scored 22 points each in the contest to lead all scorers. Other leading scorers for Milligan included freshman guard Yony Kifle (Grundy, Va.) with 19 points while sophomore guard Adam Hughes (Bluff City, Tenn.) added 11 points.

Next for Milligan is an AAC contest with Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College Tuesday January 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.