Cavaliers prevail on the road against AAC foe Milligan College
Aaron Collazo and AAC Player of the Week MJ Njoku led Montreat College past Milligan, giving them a invigorating and much needed road conference win, 62-61. However, it was Kinard Barnett that delivered the lethal blow in the final seconds to seal the win. Collazo was 4-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-4 from the stripe, including 2-for-7 from 3-point range for a total of 14 points and two rebounds. Njoku had another stellar night as he was 5-for-7 overall, perfect from the 3-point line (1-1) and the free throw line (2-2) for a total of 13 points and three rebounds. Montreat presented great team defense as they held Milligan to only one double figure scorer in guard Derrick Nave (13 points). "We've played some tight and bizarre games, but this one had the most bizarre ending to it," said Head Coach Bill Robinson.
Heading into halftime the score remained deadlocked at 32 points.
"It was a rather flat game, completely different from our last game against Bluefield, where we scored sixty-two points in the second half. Tonight, we only had sixty-two the entire game," added Robinson.
With nearly 60 seconds remaining, Montreat trailed by one point. The defensive game caused 39 total turnovers. Montreat missed with less than a minute remaining and was forced to foul immediately; after Milligan executed on only one of the free throws, putting the Cavaliers down by two points, Montreat called a time-out.
"We called time-out to run a set-play," said Robinson, "somehow the ball gets knocked away and we get it back. With nearly four seconds remaining, we decided to run a play through Kinard."
With two defenders in his face, Barnett took a 3-point shot over both of them... whether or not the shot was going in will never be known; at the buzzer, a Buffalo defender jumped at the rim, put his hand through the bottom of the basket in efforts to block Barnett's shot. With both teams standing, bewildered, the officials gathered together and ruled a goal-tending foul against the defender, and counted the 3-point shot.
"Anytime you can get a tough emotional win, on the road, against a conference team," said Coach Robinson, "it's a great feat. This was an important win, regardless of how it came about. Our boys are playing tough basketball right now. It's hard to match the emotional level from playing in McAlister, which is why a conference win on the road is that much more special."
Montreat is now 7-12 overall and 5-4 in the AAC. They play Warren Wilson this Thursday on the road (7:00pm) before getting back to AAC competition against Virginia Intermont at home this Saturday (7:30pm).
Written By:
Posted
By: Jose Larios
Date
Posted: 1/23/2008
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