BOX SCORE
JACKSON – The Millsaps Majors Men's Basketball Team raced out to a 41-20 halftime lead and held off a late rally from the Sewanee Tigers as they earned their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win of the season, 69-57, on Sunday afternoon at The Hangar Dome.
The Majors got on the board first as freshman Sterling Thomas drew a foul and basket to put Millsaps up 2-0 after a missed free throw. Junior Taylor Meades converted on the second basket from mid range to double the Majors lead. After a Sewanee basket, Thomas struck again with a three followed by a jumper from senior Brian Merkel to put the Majors on top 9-2.
Sewanee rolled back and got the game down to three early on before the Majors got baskets from sophomore Kyle Kinnear, junior Nick Cortese, and two three pointers from Meades to get their lead to 22-12. The Majors continued to increase their lead as they shot 50% (16-for-32) from the field in the first half and 71% (5-for-7) from behind the arc. The Majors played excellent defensively as they forced the Tigers into 10 turnovers. Millsaps went into the locker room with a 41-20 lead at the break.
The Majors continued to hold their 20 points lead throughout the half, getting the lead as high as 23 at some points, but Sewanee did not go away and made a late run around the 10 minute mark. The Tigers finally found a rhythm from three point land and in the blink of an eye; Sewanee cut the deficit down to 11. The Majors responded with a layup from junior Tim White followed by five consecutive points from Cortese to push the lead back to 18. The Majors held off the Tigers the rest of the way as they earned the victory.
White and Cortese led Millsaps with 12 points each. Both were great in the second half as White scored eight and Cortese added seven. Meades added 11 points while sophomore Kyle Kinnear put up 10 points. Defensively, freshman Sterling Thomas picked up five rebounds while White added two steals. Both Cortese and Merkel had four assists each.
With the win, Millsaps improves to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the SCAC. The Majors prepare to hit the road for the rest of December and early January and their next game will on December 15th in Lookout Mountain, Ga. against Covenant College. Tipoff of that game is set for 7:30 p.m.
