JACKSON- The Millsaps Majors put four in double figures in a 63-51 win over the Sewanee Tigers on Friday night in the Hangar Dome.
Mac McElveen led all scorers, coming off the bench to drop 17 on Friday night. Murray Kastner had 12 off the bench as well while Tully Gilligan had 11 and Ryan Berger had 10.
Millsaps got off to a quick start on Friday, scoring the game's first seven points. Ryan Berger made his presence felt on the post early on, drawing two quick fouls and converting from the charity stripe. Sewanee would respond, rallying off seven of the next nine points to make it a 9-7 contest. McElveen got hot out of a timeout, scoring seven straight for the Majors as they grabbed a 14-10 lead midway through the first half.
The Majors began raining threes midway through the half, threes by Gilligan, McElveen and Kastner paced the Majors over a four minute stretch and gave Millsaps a 25-17 lead. The Millsaps defense turned up the intensity on the Tigers, holding them to just one field goal over the final five minutes. A buzzer-beating McElveen three gave the Majors a 28-19 lead going into the half.
Sewanee charged out of the break with a 7-2 run to close the Majors' lead to four. A key Berger three forced a Tiger timeout and the teams would trade baskets for the next several minutes, with the Majors maintaining a five point lead.
A Kastner three broke the trend as the Majors took a nine-point lead, the senior followed that up with another three two possessions later as the lead grew to double digits. Late shot clock buckets by Berger and Dustin Aubert kept the Tigers at bay and the lead at eleven. McElveen put an exclamation point on the win with a thunderous dunk. The freshman took off from just outside the paint and threw it down with two hands. The crowd erupted and Millsaps led 55-43 with three and a half to go.
Millsaps would handle a trapping and pressure Sewanee defense that was looking for turnovers to turn the tide. The Majors handled the ball and took care of business at the foul line and dribbled out the clock for a twelve-point win.
The victory send the Majors to 6-14 and 3-8 in conference and winners of three of their last four. Sewanee drops to 11-12 overall and 4-7 in the SAA. The #25 Centre Colonels come into town on Sunday for a 2pm conference tip.
A few notes from the game:
The Majors out rebounded the Tigers 30-18 and held a 20-2 edge on second-chance points...Millsaps turned nine Tiger turnovers into 16 points...Marcellus Caldwell led the Tigers with 13 points...Gilligan led the Majors in rebounds (7) and assists (8).
