KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The CIU Rams men's basketball team was mere minutes from a historic Appalachian Athletic Conference semifinal win Friday afternoon but was unable to hold on against the Union College Bulldogs. The Rams entered the contest as the #4 seed in the AAC Men's basketball tournament, and the Bulldogs came in as the #1 seed. Despite beating Union twice earlier this season the Rams couldn't finish the Bulldogs off this time around. Union has won the last seven AAC Men's Basketball Tournaments and wound up dispatching CIU 77-70.

How It Happened 

First Half CIU 37 UC 28: Corey Benton started the first half red hot for CIU opening the contest with nine points in the first seven minutes. Benton's skillful shooting gave the Rams a 20-14 lead. Eric Graham got in on the action scoring seven points in a three-minute stretch to help the Rams go on a 10-0 run to take a 30-14 advantage. The Bulldogs battled back, however, to cut CIU's lead down to just nine points at the break. Benton led all scorers with 17 points in the half while Graham put up 9 points.

Second Half UC 77 CIU 70: The Bulldogs pulled within six of the Rams to start the half 37-31. However, after a Benton three-pointer and two made free throws from Jeff McIlwain, CIU would extend the lead back to 16 points. The Bulldogs would claw their way back to bring the score to just 58-55 with 10:33 remaining. Freshman Darian Oates was a spark off the bench with scrappy defensive play scoring four straight points to keep the Rams up by one, 62-61. CIU fought down the stretch but found themselves down 72-70 with just 2:13 remaining and ultimately bowed out 77-70.

Game Notes:

• Senior Corey Benton had 20 points and 8 rebounds.
• All-AAC center Jeff McIlwain had 10 points 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.
• Eric Graham had 15 points shooting 7-12 from the field.
• Freshman Darrian Oates had 11 points off the bench.
• CIU never trailed until the 8:20 mark in the second half.

What Coach Stockman is saying:

"I am proud of our guys today. They played hard and did a great job. It's been a great experience to be here at the conference tournament and make it to the final four teams. I am excited to continue to build our program and see what we can do in the near future."

Up Next:

The Rams will gear up for the NCCAA South Region Tournament hosted by Piedmont International University.