Tornado blows away Buffaloes by 20, 84-64

King has won 8 in a row over Milligan

By: King | TriCities.com
Published: January 19, 2010

King College pulled away in the second half for an 84-64 win over Milligan (Tenn.) College Monday. The Tornado was helped by a pair of 16-point performances by two players.

King went to 10-3 on the season and Milligan dropped to 6-11. The Tornado head coach, George Pitts, improved to 8-1 against Milligan and the victories have been consecutive. The win was also Pitts’ 40th in home games at the helm of the Tornado program.

Both Mark Dockery (Nickelsville, Va.) and Stephen Kite (Atlanta, Ga.) led King with the sweet 16 points apiece. Dockery was credited with five steals and five rebounds. He was one of three players with a team-high five rebounds.

The first half was back and forth in the opening seven minutes as the lead changed hands three times with two ties. King took the lead for good thanks to a Brian Hewitt (Lexington, Ky.) three pointer with 12:52 showing on the clock. The Tornado led 12-11 at that point after overcoming an 11-7 deficit.

The lead grew to 17-11 in the next two minutes and the Tornado did not look back. Milligan came within four points later in the half, but King led by as many as 14 before taking a 38-27 lead to the halftime break.

The Tornado kept blowing and the lead swelled to 31, 75-44, with seven minutes left. From there Milligan got within 19 down the stretch as King held on.

When holding an opponent under 70 points, King is 7-0 on the season. The team has won 17 straight when an opponent is held under 70 dating back to 2008-09.

Elisha Murray (Ft. Myers, Fla.) had 15 points while Hewitt finished with 11. Hewitt also had five assists.

Justin Sylvester paced Milligan with 14 with a double-double by Cordero Seymour of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Torian Sitton also scored 10.

King went 31-for-66 (47.0 percent) for the game and 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from behind the arc. The Tornado defense kept Milligan to a 21-for-59 (35.6 percent) performance with only four 3-pointers. Milligan did convert more free throws, 18, with 14 for King.

Rebounding was in favor of Milligan, 45-33, but the Tornado forced 26 turnovers.

King travels to Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College Thursday and will play at 7 p.m.