BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Millsaps College men's basketball team closed out the 2018-19 regular season by traveling to take on Birmingham-Southern College on Saturday afternoon. 

The Majors trailed only briefly in the first half, and they pulled away from the Panthers late in the second to pick up the 79-57 win. 

With the win, Millsaps improves their record to 12-13 overall and ends Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play with a 4-10 mark. BSC drops to 12-12 overall and 6-8 in the league. 

The twelve wins are the most by a Millsaps men's basketball team since the 2009-10 squad finished the year 12-14 overall. 

How It Happened
Some balanced offensive scoring allowed the Majors to hold a 41-35 lead at halftime. Millsaps jumped out to quick lead when Ryan McLaurin got things going with a three-pointer on an assist from James Turner. 

The two teams went back and forth, but the Majors continued to lead until, at the 13:28 mark, a BSC layup tied the game at 13-13.

Just over two minutes later the Panthers took their first lead of the game on a jumper. Their largest advantage came at the 8:15 mark when the scoreboard showed 27-22. It would not last long however, as Saxton Becker made a layup with 4:58 left in the half to make it 32-31 in favor of Millsaps. BSC would never lead again. 

The Panthers were able to hang around in the early portions of the second half, but with 11:36 left to play the Majors took their first double-digit lead and never looked back. It was not long before the lead grew to 20 points on a Newlon Gillihan three-pointer, and a Justin Van Pelt jumper gave Millsaps their largest lead of the game at 79-54 with 26 seconds left. 

BSC hit a late three-pointer, but when the final buzzer sounded the Majors picked up the 79-57 win. 
 
Key Contributors
Gillihan legitimately could not miss from beyond the three-point arc as he hit all 6 of his three-point attempts en route to a game-high 22 points. It was a career high for the freshman from McComb. Michael Sullivan added 12 points, and Van Pelt picked up another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 

Joshua Miller rounded out the double-digit scorers for Millsaps with 10 points of his own.

What's Next?
Despite losing 8 consecutive games in the middle portion of their season, the Majors have closed out 2018-19 regular season schedule by winning 2 of their last 3 games. They now carry some positive momentum into next week's SAA Men's Basketball Tournament which is being hosted by Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. 

Millsaps will enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed. The finalized bracket with matchups and game times will be released by the league office on Sunday.