MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (February 12, 2005) --- The Milligan College Buffaloes (16-12, 12-8 AAC) defeated Montreat (N.C.) College (15-11, 14-5 AAC) by a 90-73 score in a key Appalachian Athletic Conference game Saturday evening at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Senior Night and Family Weekend.

Milligan opened the game with a 7-0 lead two minutes into the contest and extended to a 12-2 lead with a Jordan Simmons (Erwin, Tenn.) three point basket 3:05 into the game.

Montreat battled back as Noble Anthony tipped in an offensive rebound to bring the Cavaliers with-in two points, 12-10 in the Buffs’ favor with 14 minutes left in the half. Montreat took the lead with a three point basket from Aaron Collazo 30 seconds later.

The Buffs opened up a 21-15 lead only to see Montreat battle back to make it a 23-21 contest with Milligan leading with 7:40 left. 

Both teams traded baskets, but Montreat took a halftime lead of 42-40 with a three point basket from David Robinson with in the Cavs’ last possession.

The second half started as both teams once again traded baskets until once again Simmons spurred the Milligan run with a three point basket with 8:00 left to put Milligan out in front 70-66 and brought the Buffs’ crowd into the game. The basket was part of a 13-2 run that saw Milligan pull out front 78-68 with 5:45 left and not look back the rest of the game.

Senior forward Craig Emmert (Cass City, Mich.) led Milligan with 22 points while fellow senior Jordan Simmons scored 17 as he was 5-6 from behind the three point line. Freshman guards Yony Kifle (Grundy, Va.) and Joe Brown (Blountville, Tenn.) scored 15 and 10 points respectively. Kifle also was credited with 8 assist. Senior Todd Davis (Corbin, Ky.) grabbed a game high of 10 rebounds to go with his seven points.

David Robinson led Montreat and all scorers with 23 points while Tim Lewis and Jazz Cathcart scored 12 points each.

Next for the Buffs is an AAC road trip to play Bryan (Tenn.) College Tuesday February 15 at 7:30 p.m.