SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Nikolas Avaliani led four players in double figures with 22 points and
Jack Bakken added 16 points and seven assists, but Sewanee made just 6-of-25 from 3-point range and Millsaps College held off a furious Tiger rally in the final minutes in an 83-77 victory in men's basketball action Sunday in Jackson, Miss.
Sewanee (9-15, 5-8 SAA) trailed 24-10 in the first 10 minutes of the game and 42-31 at the half thanks to 11 turnovers, which the Majors (13-10, 4-8) turned into 15 points. The Tigers cut the deficit to seven on two occasions early in the second half, only for Millsaps to put together an 8-0 run over a two-minute stretch that pushed the home team's advantage to 61-46 with 12 minutes to play.
Sewanee trailed, 73-58, with six minutes to go before posting a 20-8 spurt, with Avaliani netting eight points and
Philip Ryan adding four. Avaliani's 3-pointer with 100 seconds on the clock made it 78-72 and
Reid Carrier netted two free throws with 48 seconds left.
Cameron Lumar made a layup for the Majors, upping the lead to six, but Avaliani was fouled on a 3-pointer attempt with 32 seconds remaining and connected on all three attempts, making it 80-77. Rodney Phillips, Jr., hit 1-of-2 foul shots and after a missed layup for the Tigers, Colt Donley put the game away with two free throws for Millsaps.
Carrier finished with 16 points and
Fletcher Bigham collected 12 points. Sewanee posted only three turnovers in the second half and shot 50 percent (18-for-36) from the field but could not stop the Majors, who made 15-for-23 (65 percent) from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Caleb Kent scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half for Millsaps while Lumar netted 15 points and Davion James registered 11. Jaxon Toney recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Millsaps scored the Tigers, 36-7, in bench points, with Kent and Toney combing for 27 of those.
Sewanee started the game 0-for-4 from the field with one turnover before Bakken made a layup to get the club on the board. The Tigers connected on 4-of-12 field goals with eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes, trailing 24-10. Millsaps put together a 14-2 spurt to get to that point, with six different players scoring, including four points by Kent.
Another basket from Bakken ended the run and Carrier made a 3-pointer from the top of the key before a triple by Bigham cut the deficit to 26-18. Kent and Toney each scored for the Majors and Kent added another bucket.
Kaden Ferguson answered with a three for the Tigers, who trailed by 10 with five minutes left in the half.
Kent hurt Sewanee with drives to the rim the entire period, adding another and then an old-fashioned 3-point play. Carrier posted four free throws and assisted on a layup by Bigham with just under two minutes left in the half, cutting the deficit to nine.
Kent came back with another drive to the basket and Lumar made both foul shots in the last five seconds for a 42-31 advantage for Millsaps at intermission.
After an
Aidan Treacy basket to open the second half, the Majors netted seven of the next nine points behind a layup from Lumar and a 3-pointer by Toney. The Tigers responded with a 9-2 spurt that included a 3-pointer by Bigham and 2-of-3 free throws as well as a layup by Avaliani, cutting the deficit to 51-44.
Sewanee ends the regular season with a 2 p.m. CT contest next Saturday at Centre College.
