CONWAY, Ark. – A late second-half surge featuring several impressive freshmen debuts was enough to power the Millsaps men's basketball team past Hendrix College, 70-59 inside the Grove Gymnasium in Conway on Friday.

Millsaps (1-0, 1-0 SAA) opened its long-awaited Southern Athletic Association schedule victorious thanks to a team-high 17 points from freshman Cam Rucker. Fellow freshman Cameron Williams added 14 points and seven rebounds. Junior Newlon Gillihan chipped in 10 points and also posted seven boards.

The Majors defense was stout, holding Hendrix (0-1, 0-1 SAA) to less than 40 percent shooting (22-56) and forced 19 turnovers on 11 steals. Seth Stanley led the Warriors with 19 points.

The game started slow and somewhat sloppy, but both teams gradually heated up throughout. Millsaps controlled tempo early and didn't trail until late into the first half after a push by Hendrix during a low-scoring opening 20 minutes. The Warriors went into the break with a narrow 22-21 edge.

A back-and-forth tug-of-war saw the teams trade leads and keep the game close as the game sat deadlocked at 45-45. Momentum quickly turned in Millsaps' favor as senior Drew Burnett connected for a huge trey to give the team a lead it would never relinquish.

Fellow senior Joshua Miller quickly made a tough shot while being fouled to extend the Majors' cushion to 51-45. Rucker then nailed a dagger three-point shot moments later with 3:00 remaining to ice the game at 58-49. Miller connected on a trey of his own late to further seal any hope of a Warrior comeback.    

The same two teams meet again for a rematch at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live video and stats links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at gomajors.com.
 
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