February 23, 2021 | Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball poised for success in Kingsport
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - For the third straight year, CIU men's basketball will be making the trip to Kingsport, Tennessee, for the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament. CIU finished AAC play with their highest seeding ever as the Rams enter the tournament as the third overall seed. CIU will take on the sixth seed Montreat College on Thursday, February 25th.
The Rams still have a bitter taste in their mouth after a tough loss in the conference semifinals to Union College last season. CIU had beaten the Bulldogs twice throughout the regular season and led throughout much of the semifinal contest but ended up succumbing to Union.
The Rams hope to write a different script this season as they are led by the NAIA's third-leading scorer Corey Benton and last year's AAC Freshman of the Year, sophomore Skyler McKinney. Benton leads CIU in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. The senior is averaging 24.7 ppg and 6.6 rpg. McKinney is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 ppg and second on the team in rebounds at 5.3 rpg. McKinney is the Rams most effective 3-point shooter as he knocked down 43 triples and is shooting 45% from beyond the arc this season.
CIU has a tough draw in Montreat College has the Rams have not faced the Cavaliers since November. It took overtime for the last contest between the two squads to be decided as CIU defeated Montreat 118-115. That game saw 34 points from Benton and 24 points from McKinney.
Head coach Tony Stockman doesn't care who he is playing; he is just happy his team has the opportunity; Stockman commented, "With so many missed games it has been a crazy year. I am excited that we made it to this point and am looking forward to getting to play in Kingsport."
CIU takes on Montreat in the AAC quarterfinals on Thursday at 8 PM at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport, Tennessee; the game can be watched live here: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/aac/.
For the full tournament, bracket go to https://www.aacsports.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/files/brackets21-mbbQF.pdf.
