JACKSON, Miss. -- The Millsaps College men's basketball team closed out the weekend with another Southern Athletic Association (SAA) win inside the Hangar Dome. This time the Majors offense shined in a 97-88 win over the Hendrix College Warriors. 

Millsaps shot a blazing 65.7% from the field in the opening half to carry a 54-35 lead to the halftime locker room. The Majors then held off a late comeback attempt from the Warriors in the second half to secure the victory.

With the win, Millsaps improves to 15-9 overall and 7-6 inside conference play. The loss drops Hendrix to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in the SAA. 

The Majors currently sit tied for 4th place in the SAA standings, but are just one game out of second place. 

How It Happened
The offense was hitting on all cylinders seemingly all afternoon long, but especially in the first half. 

It took less than 5 minutes for Millsaps to open up a 15-1 lead. 12 of those points were scored inside the paint before Anthony Hughes capped off the run with his first of four three-pointers.

A media stoppage allowed Hendrix to settle in and start to make some shots, but Millsaps rarely missed on their end. A Ryan McLaurin three-pointer put the Majors up 41-20 with 6:18 to play, and Joshua Miller's triple a few minutes later gave them their largest lead of the half at 54-28. 

Unfortunately Hendrix closed the first half on a 7-0 run, including a desperation buzzer beater from well beyond the three-point line to make it 54-35 at the break. 

The Warriors opened up the scoring in the second half, but Millsaps need just over a minute to push their lead back out to 20 points with a Kaleb Jenkins jump shot.

The Majors led by as many as 27 points, and were never really challenged in the second half until late. 

Hendrix started to make their three-pointers inside the final minute of the contest, but still the outcome was never in doubt as Millsaps secured the win.

Notables
Hughes led the way with 22 points, while Newlon Gillihan added 15 on an efficient 5-7 shooting from the field. He was also a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Jenkins poured in 14 and McLaurin scored 10 for the Majors. 

Millsaps dominated Hendrix underneath the basket, outscoring the Warriors 48-22 inside the paint. They also won the rebounding battle 36-29.

What's Next?
The Majors will close out the regular season at home next weekend when they host Birmingham-Southern. Senior Day festivities will take place prior to Saturday's 3:00 p.m. tip-off.