Box Score         The Truett-McConnell Men's Basketball team traveled to Tennessee on Wednesday night to take on the Division-leading Milligan Buffaloes. The Bears were met by a rowdy crowd that had packed the arena to see their home team secure a victory, but it was evident early on that the Bears had come ready to play, as well.  A strong defensive effort from the entire team, as well as good perimeter shooting, helped the Bears take an early lead. At one point in the first half, the Bears drained seven consecutive 3-point shots to help grab the lead en route to their 36-33 halftime lead.
        The Bears came out of the locker room with the same ferocity they started the game with, building their largest lead of six points early in the second period.  However, their lead was short lived after a series of costly turnovers allowed Milligan to regain the lead towards the end of regulation.  Not to be denied, the Bears fought back and tied the score sending the game into overtime.
         Once the overtime period began, Andretti Lloyd and JR Hurst hit key 3-point shots to help propel the Bears back into the lead. The Bears utilized a stingy 2-3 zone defense to stifle the Milligan offense during the OT period. Freshman Marquis Bumpas' gritty defensive play helped secure a pair of key rebounds late in the contest as well. Bumpas and fellow freshman David Campbell each drained a pair of free throws down the stretch helping to secure the 78-72 OT victory for the Bears.
         Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the victory was the Bears' overall defensive play. Milligan only shot 33% from the field all night and they were held to a minuscule 12% from beyond the 3 point arch. "All week, we talked about how great competitors hate to lose. If you do that, you eliminate the reasons for losing. I think we took that to heart as we turned in one of our better defensive performances of the season," said Coach Yeh shortly after the game.
         Needless to say, it is evident that Head Coach Jon Yeh has the Bears moving in the right direction. The win marked the Bears' 5^th overall win of the season, thus already surpassing the entire season win total from last year. The Bears also moved to a 3-2 conference mark, propelling them into sole possession of 4^th place in the conference.   "This was a grind-it-out battle against a very good Milligan team," said Coach Yeh. "We had key contributions from everyone who saw action."
        The Bears will travel to Tigerville, South Carolina on Saturday night to take on North Greenville University at 8:00pm.