JACKSON- The Millsaps Majors men's basketball team mounted a second half comeback, but fell to the Pensacola Christian Eagles 58-53, in the Majors' 2013-14 opener. 

Marc Robertson and Murray Kastner paced the offense, scoring 17 and 16, respectfully. Both were lights out from beyond the arc, hitting a combined nine threes for the Majors. 

The Eagles put the clamps on the Majors in the early going, limiting them to just one field goal over the game's first 10 minutes. Pensacola Christian built a 15-2 lead over that time and a Mac McElveen three midway through the half helped to jump start the Millsaps' offense. 

Kastner hit a pair of threes and Robertson hit one as well as the Majors cut the lead to 23-18 with just over a minute left in the half. Each team would come up empty on their final few first half possessions and it was a five point Eagle halftime lead. 

The Eagles started quickly again in the second half, led by senior Mike Goetch who had a game-high 22 as the Eagles built their lead back up to eight. Ryan Berger scored four of his eight in a three possession stretch to help the Majors cut into the Pensacola lead. A Tully Gilligan lay-up made it 45-44 and a Kastner three gave the Majors their first lead at 47-46 with four minutes left. 

Goetch would get fouled on the Eagles' next three possessions, including a pair of three-shot tries. He made five of the eight to give the Eagles the lead right back. Robertson hit another three to give the Majors a 53-51 lead with 90 seconds left. The Eagles answered with a three of their own to retake the lead at 54-53. 

After an empty possession, the Eagles missed a pair of free throws, then fouled Berger on a drive to the basket. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, with the Eagles controlling the rebound. Forced to foul, the Majors put the Eagles back on the line where they stretched their lead out to three. Pensacola then fouled Tully Gilligan, putting him on the line rather than allowing the Majors to try a tying three. Gilligan missed his free throws with the Eagles once again controlling the rebound. Pensacola hit two more free throws to ice the game. Gillgan would add a buzzer beating lay-in to finalize the score.

The Majors will look to get their first win tomorrow night as they host East Texas Baptist at 7pm. 

A few notes on the game:

The Majors out rebounded the Eagles 35-28...Berger had a game high eight rebounds....The game had eight lead changes and two ties