BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Millsaps men's basketball team fell in its SAA opener at Birmingham-Southern, 93-59 inside the Bill Battle Coliseum on Monday.

Junior Cam Rucker tallied a team-high 12 points and three steals, while rising freshmen Rodney Phillips Jr. (six points, seven rebounds) and Dakota Gasca (eight rebounds, four rebounds) were tough on the glass.

Birmingham-Southern (5-2, 1-0 SAA) was advantageous, claiming a 22-11 second-chance point edge. Additionally, the Panthers forced 21 turnovers resulting in 29 points.
 
Sophomore Drew Roth stopped a 9-0 BSC run in the opening four minutes of the contest with a putback layup.

The Panthers would build a 18-3 advantage, but senior Doug Watson responded with a hard-fought and-one opportunity followed by a Rucker trey, cutting the deficit to nine points.
 
Trailing 25-11 midway through the half, Watson drove underneath the net for a smooth scoop and score.
 
Rucker then stole the ball for a coast to coast layup as senior Rodreekas Bush was being fouled. Bush drained one of two free throws to make it a 32-18 Panther edge with 6:25 to play in the opening half.  Junior Aaron Ursin and Phillips Jr. would put their defenders through the spin cycle in the low post to push the deficit to 32-22 on two of the next three possessions.
 
The Panthers closed the half on a 12-5 flurry to take a 44-27 advantage at intermission after shooting 56 percent.
 
BSC continued to build its lead in the second half, whenever the Majors knocked down a layup or three-pointer the Panthers would counter. The Panthers outscored Millsaps 49-32 in the second half to earn the 93-59, conference-opening win.

The Majors next travel to face crosstown rival Belhaven on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. with live video and stats provided at gomajors.com.
 

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