SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In a four-day, conference-opening road swing to central Texas, the Millsaps men's basketball team earned a weekend split, using a Lorenzo Bailey 3-pointer with 5 seconds left to top Southwestern 70-68 on Friday before falling to Trinity 57-53 in a hard fought contest Sunday afternoon.
In Friday's conference-opener for both teams, Millsaps (4-3, 1-1 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) erased a 12-point halftime deficit and 31 percent shooting in the first half against Southwestern University to improve to 1-0 in the SCAC and 4-2 overall.
The Majors struggled a little in the first half, only connecting on 7-of-22 shots from the floor and turning the ball over 12 times, while Southwestern (4-3, 1-0 SCAC) shot an impressive 60 percent (15-of-25) and took a 36-24 halftime lead into the locker room.
Millsaps turned things around in the second half, shooting a solid 67 percent (16-for-24) from the floor including 7-of-9 from beyond the arc to complete the come-from-behind win in the final seconds.
Chris Sanders used the best of his third start of the season, picking up four steals in the second half including the game-tying steal with 18 seconds remaining that allowed head coach Tim Wise and the Majors to draw up the eventual game-winner.
Bailey, Edrick Montgomery, Allen Odum and Rodney Rogan all finished in double figures for Millsaps, with Odum scoring all 11 of his points in the second half.
Millsaps finished the game 50 percent from the floor and a stellar 60 percent (9-of-15) from beyond the arc.
In Sunday's finale against Trinity, the Majors were held under 60 points for the first time all season, battling the Tigers down to the final minute before B.J. Moon's pair of free throws with 26 seconds left sealed the 57-53 victory for Trinity.
After clinging onto a slight 23-21 halftime lead, Trinity (3-4, 1-1 SCAC) never looked back, leading by as many as 11 in the second half to close out the victory and pick up its first conference win of the season.
Two nights after being nearly lights out from beyond the 3-point line, the Majors couldn't find the range on Sunday, shooting a dismal 17 percent (5-of-29) to go along with 32 percent shooting from the field.
Montgomery chipped in his second double-double of the year, including a game-high 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, but it wasn't enough as Millsaps lost its first conference game of the season and dropped to 4-3 on the year.
Rogan (14), Odum (11), Bailey (4), Sanders (2), Deonte Oscar (2) and Chris Ingle (2) each contributed important minutes and rounded out the list of scorers for the Majors.
Millsaps looks to bounce back and get in the win column this weekend, traveling to Florida to take on Pensacola Christian College on Friday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
The Majors defeated the Eagles 93-62 in their season-opener in Jackson back on Nov. 17.
