Box Score
Box Score
The Millsaps Majors mounted a furious comeback attempt in the final minutes of Sunday's men's basketball game against Sewanee, but the Tigers, who led by as many as 12 in the final minutes, managed to fend off the Majors and walk away with a 55-51 SCAC victory. The win is the Tigers' third conference victory of the season and pushes the team to 7-11 overall and 3-8 in league play. Sewanee's Valentino Bryant (Hendersonville, Tenn., Beech) led all scorers with 21 points in the win.
Finding the basket proved tough for both teams throughout much of the first half. After Millsaps jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, no one scored again for nearly two minutes. The Majors went ahead 4-0 on a lay up by LV Sumler before both teams found themselves in a scoring drought that lasted exactly four minutes. Nick Cortese knocked down a jumper for Millsaps to make it 6-0 Majors as the Tigers' shooting woes continued.
Sewanee finally got on the board at the 11:34 mark of the first half when Lewis Affronti (Virginia Beach, Va., Norfolk Academy) nailed a short jumper in the paint to give the Tigers their first points and make it 6-2 Millsaps. Brett Bouldin (Crossville, Ala., Crossville) wasted no time nailing a 3-pointer for Sewanee as the Tigers cut the difference to just one, 6-5. A minute and half later, Tyler Brown (Goodlettsville, Tenn., Beech) connected on one of two free throws to even the ballgame at 6-6 but Millsaps quickly went ahead 10-6 after four straight free throws by Brian Merkel.
The Tigers took their first lead of the contest when Bryant and Affronti knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give Sewanee a 12-10 edge. Bryant nailed yet another trey just moments later as the Tigers went up by five, 15-10. Bouldin finished out the 9-0 run with a lay up in the paint to make it 17-10, Sewanee.
The two squads traded scores before Bryant used an old-fashioned three-point play to put Sewanee ahead 20-12. Brown added a free throw to give the Tigers their largest lead of the night, 21-12. Cortese got two baskets for the Majors, sandwiched around a lay up by Sewanee's Trent Williams, to make the halftime score 23-17.
The Tigers came out shooting in the second half, going ahead by as many as 11, after 3-pointers by Affronti and Bouldin. Taylor Meades hit a pair of free throws and Sumler grabbed a basket for the visitors to cut the Sewanee lead to seven, 35-28. After Brown knocked down a jumper for the Tigers, Millsaps scored seven straight points to cut the difference to just two, 37-35, near the midway point of the second half.
Bryant hit a pair of freebies to extend the lead back to four, but Merkel hit another shot for the Majors to make it 39-37, Sewanee. After Merkel cut things to two, the Tigers used a 9-0 run over a five minute stretch to push their lead back to 11, 48-37. Moments later, the Tigers went ahead by 12, 51-39, as Brown hit one of two free throws and Bryant turned a fast break into a basket for Sewanee.
Meades again hit a free throw to make it 51-40 before Sumler hit another lay up for Millsaps to cut the difference to nine, 51-42. Merkel knocked down a jumper in the paint to inch the Majors closer, but Bryant hit a pair of free throws to push the Tiger lead back to nine, 53-44.
With 2:24 left, Meades hit one of two at the line to make it 53-45, Sewanee and 40 seconds later, Sumler cut the gap to six, 53-47, with a basket of his own. After a foul by Bryant, Millsaps found themselves at the line again, where Tim White connected on one of two free throws, making it 53-48 Sewanee. The Majors were forced to foul Bryant with 29 seconds left and he connected on both, pushing the Tiger lead back to seven, 55-48.
The Majors weren't done yet. With 23 seconds left, a driving Merkel turned a foul by Brett Bouldin into an old-fashioned three-point play. Merkel knocked down the basket and the foul and quickly cut the Sewanee lead to four. The Majors forced a Tiger turnover after the free throw and had two chances in the final seconds but couldn't get either to fall before Sewanee walked away with the 55-51 victory.
Bryant led all scorers with 21 points. He also added three assists in the effort. Affronti chipped in 10 and Brown added nine points and eight rebounds for the host Tigers.
Sumler led Millsaps with 18 points and eight rebounds. Merkel finished with 11 points for the Majors, while Meades added 10 on 8 of 10 shooting from the free throw line.
As a team, Sewanee went 17 of 47 from the field (36.2%) and 6 of 20 from the 3-point line (30%). The Tigers went 15 of 20 from the charity stripe. Millsaps finished the night 16 of 59 from the field (27.1%) and 3 of 24 from beyond the arc (12.5%). The Majors hit 16 of 19 free throws in the contest.
Each team turned the ball over 11 times, and Millsaps just edged out the Tigers in rebounding, 40-36, finishing with 20 offensive and 20 defensive rebounds.
Sewanee will be back in action on Tuesday when they head to Covenant College for an 8 p.m. contest with the Scots.
