TUSKEGEE, Ala. | Elijah McMillan paced four players in double figures, including recording his first double-double of the season, leading the Tuskegee University men's basketball team to a 75-57 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) victory over Paine College Monday afternoon.
McMillan, who missed the first eight games of the season, recorded his first double-double since last February with 24 points and 14 rebounds. The junior knocked down 47.1 (8-of-17) percent of his shots from the floor, including hitting a pair of three-pointers. He narrowly missed recording the double-double in the first half when he went to the locker room with 11 points and nine rebounds. He also added three steals in the win, the first conference victory for Tuskegee (2-12, 1-4 SIAC) this season.
Myles Thomas added 18, while
James Eads added 13 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, junior point guard
Travis Flagg came up just one assist short of his first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine assists.
Tuskegee shot 36.1 (22-of-61) percent from the floor, including 36 (9-of-25) percent from beyond the arc. They also connected on 71 (22-of-31) percent of their shots from the free throw line, while winning the rebounding battle 43-36.
The Golden Tigers were able to blow the game open in the second half, when they went on a 11-0 run over the first five minutes of the second half to push their lead to 15 (44-29). The lead grew to on a pair of occasions when Thomas knocked down a three-pointer with 13:16 to play (47-31), and when McMillan connected on a layup with 11:20 to play (49-33).
They eventually grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 18 with just 2:33 to play in the contest when Eads drove the lane for a lay-up.
Yusef Riley led Paine with 19 points, while Justin Syphoe added 13 in the loss for the Lions who shot just 40 (20-of-50) percent from the floor and connected on just six three-pointers.
Tuskegee returns to action Thursday night at home against Spring Hill College, with tip set for 7:30 pm.
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