Georgetown, Texas – With five seconds on the clock and the Majors down by two, junior Taylor Meades buried his fifth three pointer of the half to drive Millsaps to a 65-64 win over the Southwestern Pirates. With the win, the Majors improve to 8-10 overall and 3-7 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Both teams came out cold to start the game as neither team could buy a basket until Meades came through at the 16:54 mark to put Millsaps up 2-0. Southwestern responded with a bucket from Sean Myers before sophomore Ryan Berger and sophomore Murray Kastner each converted on jump shots to give Millsaps a 6-2 lead.
The Pirates came back with a 10-2 run to take a 12-8 lead with 12:50 remaining in the first half. The Majors fired back with three pointers from Kastner and junior Nick Cortese.
After a jump shot from Southwestern, Millsaps got layups from Berger and freshman Sterling Thomas before converting on another three pointer from Cortese to take a 21-16 lead with 6:56 remaining in the first half.
Southwestern cut the deficit to three again before Cortese converted on another three to push Millsaps to a six-point lead. The Majors then went on a 7-2 run which included layups from sophomores Tully Gilligan and Kyle Kinnear and another three pointer from Cortese to give Millsaps a 31-22 lead.
However, Southwestern converted on the final five points to cut the deficit to four going into half.
Millsaps came out and scored the first three points thanks the layup and the foul by Kinnear. He added the free throw to give the Majors a 34-27 lead.
The Pirates answered with an 8-0 run to take a 35-34 lead. Meades hit his second bucket of the game, a three pointer, to put Millsaps back up by three before Southwestern answered right back to tie it up. Shortly after, Meades hit his second three of the game at the 15:05 mark to give Millsaps a 40-39 lead.
Southwestern pulled back ahead and held onto the lead for most of the second half. Meades followed through with his third three at the 11:30 mark to bring the Majors within one, but the Pirates got two straight layups to go up by five, their largest lead of the game.
The Majors continued to battle, but every time they got close, Southwestern inched further away.
After a Demetrice Spearman layup, the Pirates held a 60-55 lead with 4:10 remaining. Meades continued to keep Millsaps in the game with another three pointer, his fourth of the half, to bring the game back to a two point deficit.
The two teams traded free throws to make it 62-60, Pirates. With 42 seconds remaining, Logan Hurley converted on a layup to give the Pirates a 64-60 lead. Gilligan responded with a huge jumper to keep Millsaps in it.
After a turnover by Southwestern, Millsaps had a chance to tie, but could not convert on the mid-range jumper and had to foul.
The Pirates could not convert on the 1-and-1 and the Majors responded in grand fashion as Meades buried the game winner, his fifth three pointer of the half, to put Millsaps up 65-64 with five seconds remaining.
Meades led the way with 17 total points as he shot 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-9 from behind the arch. Cortese also added 17 points while dishing out three assists, pulling down three rebounds, and blocking a shot. Gilligan came off the bench as he had seven points.
The Majors return to action on Sunday as they take on the Trinity Tigers in San Antonio, Texas. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. following the women's game.
