LAURINBURG — Upon returning from the holiday break, the St. Andrews University men’s and women’s basketball teams both lost to Milligan College in Appalachian Athletic Conference action on Thursday.
The St. Andrews men held a five-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game, but Milligan rallied to win 80-78. Isaac Clay and Myron Williams both had 21 points for the Knights (3-10, 3-7 AAC). Clay had six rebounds and five assists. Williams had seven rebounds, finishing one shy of Jozef Vanderhorst’s team-high eight rebounds. Q’dardruis Sanders posted six assists for the Knights.
Milligan’s Bo Pless scored a game-high 18 points. Desean Green posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Knights shot 56 percent from the field, in comparison to 39 percent for Milligan (6-6, 5-4 AAC).
In the women’s game, Milligan defeated St. Andrews 79-65. St. Andrews guard Samantha Ring led all scorers with 18 points. Ring made five of her 12 3-point attempts. Brittani McDonald added 13 points off the bench for the Lady Knights (3-9, 2-9 AAC).
Halie Padgett scored 18 points for the guests. Lily Griffith added 14 points. Milligan (6-10, 5-6 AAC) went 28-for-36 at the free throw line. The Lady Knights made seven of their 14 free throws.
UNCP heads to Young Harris on Saturday
The UNC Pembroke men’s and women’s basketball teams will ring in the New Year a few days late when the Braves trek to northeast Georgia on Saturday to battle Young Harris inside the YHC Basketball Arena. Tipoff for the women’s game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., with the men’s teams set to square off at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The Lady Braves (6-5, 1-2 PBC) have now dropped three of their last four outings thanks to a 59-45 setback to 21st-ranked North Georgia on Dec. 21. UNCP trailed by just six points, 35-29, early in the second half, but the Nighthawks shot better than 44 percent in the third and fourth quarters, including a 40 percent success rate from the perimeter.
UNCP boasts the Peach Belt’s Conference’s 3rd-best scoring defense (.369), while also holding opponents to just 36.9 percent field goal shooting (3rd PBC). The Black & Gold commits just 16.7 turnovers per game (4th PBC), and will head into Georgia having out-rebounded two of its last three opponents as well.
Junior Melanie Horne paces the Braves in both scoring (10.3 points/game) and rebounding (6.0 rebounds/game), but senior Aliyah Farmer has connected on half (41-of-82) of her field goal attempts in 2019-20, and has pulled down a team-best 23 offensive boards this season as well.
The Braves lead the all-time series with the Mountain Lions, 6-2, but Young Harris has captured each of the last two series matchups in the YHC Basketball Arena. The Black & Gold rattled off two-straight 19-point victories against the Mountain Lions prior to a 62-54 setback in Georgia on February 16.
The UNCP men’s basletball team (8-3, 2-1 PBC) picked up its eighth win of the season with a 76-46 home triumph over North Georgia on Dec. 21. UNCP scored 21 points off of 17 turnovers in that contest, and used an 18-4 run midway through the first half to pull away for good.
UNCP boasts the Peach Belt Conference’s 3rd-best scoring defense (72.1 points/game allowed), and leads the league with 5.8 blocks an outing as well. The Black & Gold ranks second among the league’s 12 institutions in assists per game (16.9), while also boasting the PBC’s second-best assist to turnover ratio (+2.9) as well.
Thanks to back-to-back 20-point outings, junior David Strother now boasts a team-best 13.9 points per outing, while also pacing the Black & Gold in assists per game (4.6) as well. Strother has also shot a team-best 37.9 percent from the perimeter in 2019-20, and has logged eight of his team-best 22 treys over the last three outings.
The Braves have captured seven of the nine previous matchups in the series with Young Harris, and will ride a six-game series win streak into the YHC Basketball Arena on Wednesday. UNCP dropped each of its first two road matchups in the series, but has come away a winner in its last two trips to Young Harris.
