KINGSPORT, Tenn. – After a successful year and their highest regular season finish ever in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), CIU traveled to Kingsport to take on Montreat College in the conference quarterfinals. CIU entered the contest as the third overall seed, while Montreat came in as the sixth seed. The Rams defeated the Cavaliers way back on November 12th in an overtime contest 118-115. Despite leading early, the Rams would be unable to repeat their results from November as Montreat get the best of CIU, defeating the Rams 94-83. CIU falls to 14-7 on the season as Montreat advances to the AAC semifinals, where they will take on Union on Friday.

How It Happened:

First Half: MC 48 CIU 33: CIU started the game on a Skyler McKinney 3-pointer to jump out to a quick lead. On the following possession, Corey Benton knocked down a triple of his own and then a few minutes later hit another 3-pointer to give CIU a 15-7 advantage at the 16:04 mark. From there, a 19-3 run would ensue by the Cavaliers until Jalen Brinson stopped the bleeding getting a steal and getting to the line on a fastbreak. Brinson sank both free throws to cut the Montreat lead to 26-20 with 8:54 remaining. However, the Cavaliers stayed hot, closing out the half shooting a jaw-dropping 69% from the field while taking a 48-33 advantage into halftime.

Second Half: MC 94 CIU 83: Montreat led by as much as 53-36, but CIU would slowly chip away at the lead. The Rams cut the deficit to 74-66 on a Skyler McKinney finish inside with 6:41 remaining. Montreat went up again by double-digits, and the Rams cut the lead to nine 81-72 on a DiAnthony Heathcock alley-oop dunk. Brinson had a chance to trim the advantage to just seven points but could not find the bottom of the net from deep at the 2:31 mark. Montreat would dribble out the clock as time expired, and CIU was eliminated from the conference tournament with a 94-83 loss.

Game Notes:

• Corey Benton scored 27 points to lead all scorers while snagging seven rebounds and five assists. Benton found his stroke from deep, hitting four 3-pointers.
• Skyler McKinney scored 22 points for CIU shooting an impressive 8-14 from the field.
• Elijah Spalding had six points and five boards, while Darrian Oates had eight points, four rebounds, and two steals.
• Jalen Brinson went 5-6 from the foul line scoring seven points while picking up two steals.
• Statistically, the two teams were even across the board; however the difference came in field goal percentage as Montreat went nearly 58% from the field.

What Coach Stockman is saying:

"I am disappointed with the outcome and frustrated with our defense; this is going to be a tough loss to swallow."

Up Next:

CIU will compete in the NCCAA South Region Tournament; details will be released shortly.